Avast!
by Shadowsouls0
Summary: "Arg! Come on ye skallywags! Gather round! Gather round! Here be a tale of action! Adventure! Romance!"- "HEY! I didn't say ANYTHING about that yet."- "Arr, ye be a fool interruptin' me! Where was I... Ah yes! Come one! Come all! See the thrilling adventures of the terrible captain-"- "It's JAUNE."- "EXACTLY! AND HIS LOVE-" "Just stop... please... It's RWBY as pirates. WE ARE DONE.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one: Mistake, or destiny?

 **(a/n- Hello yet** _ **another**_ **random idea that popped into my head… may or may not be good, I don't know, we'll see where this goes. Also, for the first time since Neo's Revenge -something I really need to get back to someday- this will be written from the** _ **third person point of view**_ ** **. Ooooooooh smoke effects… sparkling sound effect… yeah start the fic before this gets worse. By the way the twins you'll meet later are an**** ** _ **attempt**_** ** **at an accent... don't know if I got it quite right.)****

"Bring forth the accused!"

A man standing on a pedestal said, looking out among the throngs of people that had come to watch. He stood on a wooden stage, accompanied by three guards, all surrounding a large wooden arch, with a single noose tied to the center. From behind that arch two large doors swung open, revealing three more people. Two of them were dressed in the attire of the guards, the same dark green coats, flintlock pistols at their sides, and swords at their hips. They both had their hands gripped around the arms of the third figure, who was calmly walking along with them. The third figure was held almost a foot off the ground, being far shorter than either of the other two. They had a black execution hood over their face, concealing their identity from the masses for a few moments. They had few distinguishable characteristics, other than a single brand. It was rather simple really, a symbol just beneath the breasts that showed two swords crossed over a ring of bones, two bones seemingly meeting in a cross behind them. A symbol that hadn't had to have been used by the courts in decades. Now the figure had been branded with it for life.

The symbol of an assassin.

Normally it would be invisible, but due to the nature of the criminals outfit, it was plain as day. That outfit being nothing more than simple ropes tied around her wrists, wrapped up over, under, and even between her breasts to keep her still. The near nude woman was brought to the place where the noose was, there one of the guards reached over, pulling the hood off of the woman. The woman, perhaps _girl_ would be a more appropriate term, had a young looking face, and a rather nice one at that. Her eyes shined two different colors, brown for the right and a pale pink for the left. Her hair was just as odd, having streaks of brown, pink, and white in such a way it was hard to tell which, if any, was her natural color. She looked around, her eyes showing no hint of concern or fear for what was about to happen as the man in charge of the procession approached her.

"Neopolitan. Citizen of Haven. Native of Mistral. You have been tried by the courts of Vale and found guilty for the attempted murder of emperor Ozpin. For this crime you are hereby sentenced to the noose!" the man said, gesturing above him as the crowd around him cheered, some booing and tossing things towards the scantily clad girl. The man in charge backed away, letting some of the objects, most of which were harmless rotten food, hit against her bare body. The man nodded towards another, this person wearing a mask not all that dissimilar to that of Neopolitan. The only difference really was that his had eye holes. He was holding a red-hot iron, and the intention of the man was clear. "As is custom, I now brand thee with the traitor's mark!" the man yelled, plunging the iron as it singed into Neopolitan's stomach.

Neo felt tears running down her face as she gritted her teeth, pained grunts coming from her as she shut her eyes. It hurt worse than anything she'd ever felt. On her skin was the brand of a heart, at least, in the negative space. In the positive there were two of what may have been blades… though, no one _really_ knew what they were. Just that it was an old symbol they'd used to signify death for the past 400 years. The black masked man walked away as the judge, at least, that's what Neo thought he was, retook to the stage. He wrapped the noose around her neck, pulling it tight. " _The people will have their justice, no one can escape a hanging._ " thought the judge as he stepped back, holding out his hand towards the two men from before. They walked over, each grabbing a lever on the side of the podium as the bag was put back over the girl's head. "Swing the criminal off!" he yelled.

The two flicked the levers as the floor caved in, swinging to both sides as the girl's tiny body fell, bouncing on the noose as, to the wondering eyes of everyone, light began to spill from her neck. Then, that light spread, down from her neck and over her bare body, up past her hood as it glowed brighter. Then she shattered. Broken into a thousand pieces, the assassin _shattered_ , falling to the ground. The judge looked around, his eyes widening as he realized what had happened. Behind the crowd that had formed, he could see a bare back, a small butt and arms tied around themselves running away from the crowd. "THERE SHE IS! AFTER HER!" he yelled, pointing behind the crowd. The guards mobilized, running towards her as they started ringing the bells, the alarms to tell that a criminal had escaped. " _No one can escape a hanging,"_ the judge thought as he ran back inside.

" _No one, except witches and demons._ "

…

" _Got away… crap, where too now?_ "

Neo thought as she streaked through the marketplace, drawing the eyes of onlookers and guards alike as she took a sharp right, through a nearby alley between buildings. If it weren't for her bindings she'd have been able to climb up the rooftops, snag some clothing, disguise herself, and be on a ship going to Vacuo already. Problem was, it had taken her most of her strength to keep up an illusion of herself up in the noose that long. Not to mention, she didn't have anything sharp enough to cut through the bindings. She just kept running, taking a right towards the docks. " _If I'm lucky I can find a ship to stow away on, maybe get the bindings off later._ " she thought as she bolted towards the docks, following the scent of fish. She hazarded a look back, seeing three officers chasing after her. She turned back, her eyes widening as she saw a forth, much larger than the other three, standing in front of her, brandishing a razor sharp sword.

Neo jumped, spinning around as she heard something tear. She fell to the ground, scrambling up and running as she felt pins and needles in her arms. She looked down, smirking when she saw her arms in front of her. She was free… well, other than the guards still after her and the ropes around her chest that is. With her arms free though, she was able to jump up, grab onto a nearby pole, and vault herself onto the roof of a nearby building. Then she started running, smirking despite her situation as she felt the wind against her face, her hair blowing back behind her. " _Okay, gotta get away from here, NOW._ " she thought as she jumped onto the next building, seeing the docks in the distance.

Meanwhile, a few hundred yards away, a man stood in a tower, taking out his musket and shutting his left eye. He took a breath, aiming at the leaping lady. " _Come on girl, give me one clean shot._ " the man thought. He seemed to get his wish, as the girl stopped a few feet from the edge, right next to the waterfront. It was about a hundred yards away from him, and the girl seemed tired, stopping to catch her breath. The man took aim, smirking as he squeezed the trigger.

BANG!

Neo fell headlong into the water.

…

"She still kickin'?"

"Why's she bare?"

"Quiet! I think she's wakin' up!"

Neo slowly opened her eyes, squinting against the familiar, blinding light of the sun. She saw the shadow of two figures over her, felt the familiar sting of rope at her back, and a dull throbbing near her stomach. She felt something was draped over her, but for the life of her she couldn't tell what it was. When her vision cleared, she saw two men standing over her. The two looked all but identical, the only difference clear in their pudgy faces the eyepatches. One wore it on their left eye, the other on their right. They both had red bandannas over their scalps, one golden earring in each ear, and both were missing a few teeth, three each to be exact, and both had short, bright red beards. They were wearing red and white striped shirts, with black pants dragging down to the dark wooden floor of the deck. The two jumped back as Neo's eyes flashed brown with confusion.

"Oi! Her eyes changed cula!"

"You reckon she's a witch?!"

"Course she ain't! Dat dere's an ass-ass-in bran' Uni!"

"It is Duni?" ( **A/N- enunciate the U for pronunciation)**

"What's going on here?" Neo heard a voice pierce through the conversation. The two men suddenly turned around, standing a bit straighter as a man walked towards the three of them. He was taller than the two twins, easily standing a foot over both of them. His eyes shone with a sort of nervous energy behind them, but one that was concealed with a display of courage Neo could tell the man simply didn't have. He was dressed in a long, white coat with golden highlights stitched onto the sleeves, the coat reaching down just to his calves. He had a young looking face, maybe about her age if Neo guessed right, and an eye the color of the sky behind him. The other eye, a clue to what the man's profession was, was covered by a small, black eyepatch, two golden arches stitched on. A few strands of blond hair were visible beneath his large, tri-corner hat as he walked over, only his bangs showing. His hat was just as white as his shirt, with golden lining framing the edges, shining in the light of day.

Neo looked down, finding that he was wearing, oddly enough, black boots and dark blue pants beneath them, along with a black shirt beneath his coat. On said black shirt Neo could see two straps, laden down with powder and bullets, no doubt to accompany the two pistols on his hips, both no doubt loaded with shots. The man's eye wandered over to Neo before he slipped off his coat, handing it off to one of the shorter men. "Slip that onto her and bring her to the doc. Understand Uni?" "I'm Duni, _that's_ Uni." said short man pointing at the other short man. The blond sighed, shaking his head before he walked off, heading out of Neo's view. Duni, apparently that was the name of the left-eye patched man, walked over to Neo, grabbing her arm as Neo looked down. She saw that what she was covered by was really just part of the large net she seemed to be caught in, along with a few fish and some crops someone had no doubt tossed away for some odd reason.

Neo let herself be pulled up, the two short men, who were actually a few inches taller than Neo when she stood up, both pulling the coat onto her, one raising an eyebrow at her brands. "Oi! Uni! Ain't that the death bran'?" Duni, assumingly, said, lightly poking at Neo's stomach. Neo swatted his hand away, glaring at him as she covered her stomach with her arms, fighting down a smile. The other one, Uni, walked over to him, and Neo indulged him by moving her arms down slightly. Uni gasped, "Shiver me timbers! It is! What you done to get that?" He asked, no doubt questioning Neo as the three of them moved towards the cabin. Neo didn't speak, looking straight ahead and gripping onto the captain's, at least she assumed he was the captain, coat tightly and walked towards the door. "Aye, not much of a talker are ya?" Duni said, both of them stopping at the door.

Duni walked forward, holding the door open for the other two before both twins pointed Neo straight ahead. "Doc's in dere, we be goin' now!" both of them said in unison before walking away, the door slamming shut behind Neo. She looked ahead, taking a few, cautious steps as she let her eyes adjust to the darkness. All she saw was plain, dark wooden walls on all sides, the same kind of floor. There were a few candles in glass and iron bulbs fixed to the walls, but other than that the place was completely bare. Neo walked past all of that, her past voyages to Vacuo with the royal family making her all but immune to the endless rocking of the ship as it no doubt sailed away from Vale. Which, granted, was just _fine_ with her. " _Not my preferred getaway but… beggars can't be choosers._ " she thought. Sure, she was stuck on a ship with people she didn't know in nothing but the captain's coat, but hey, she wasn't _dead_ at least.

She reached the oak door, decorated with a few carvings, and she knocked. "Come in!" A strangely sweet voice said. Neo could tell it was a woman's voice just from the sound of it, but rather strange to hear one on what Neo could only assume was a pirate ship. Neo pushed open the door, finding the captain, the man who'd given her the coat, standing in there, no eyepatch on. Next to him there was a woman in a long, black robe, her face decorated with dark blue warpaint, her skin tanned with the familiar look of a tribal. The woman was something Neo had seen before, a tribal with a gift no one understood, just like her. Difference was, Neo wasn't a tribal. So all she could do was hide her gift so that no one mistook her for a witch. She wasn't a witch of course, she didn't think they existed. Though, what Neo knew right now, was that she was in a room with two people like her. There was one thing they all had in common.

They all had semblances.

She didn't know what the man's semblance was, but she could tell by _looking_ at the woman she was a healer. Tribals didn't give those markings out unless they were. Couple that with the fact the captain had told Duni and Uni to bring her to the doctor, and it made perfect sense. "Hey. You alright?" The captain asked, giving Neo a gentle smile, one that seemed to contradict with the whole pirate captain thing. Neo just nodded a few times, giving a small smile back before she reached down, gripping at her stomach in pain. She looked down, and while her limited aura _had_ protected her from the bullet, it hadn't stopped the pain that came with it. The woman stood, walking over to Neo and placing her hand on the bare girls bare stomach. "Just hold still dear, I'll make the pain go away." she said as Neo's eyes widened, watching a pale green light seeping between the woman's fingertips, the dull pain Neo felt on her side weakening.

She pulled her hand away, and the green light pulled off it, clinging to Neo's skin as she felt the pain grow weaker and weaker. "You've got a broken bone in there dear, it may take a few days before you're up and fighting again." she said, giving Neo a sad smile. Neo gave the woman a smile back, nodding towards her before she turned to the captain. She raised an eyebrow towards him, finding that he was gripping onto the nearby side of the railing, holding his mouth. "Oh! It appears it's time for your next treatment." the woman said as she grabbed the captain's hand, pulling him down onto a nearby bed. The woman reached around her shoulders, pushing the long cloak off of her to reveal what were basically fur underwear with a few teeth sewn onto strips of leather. Her entire body was marked with those dark green markings, even down to her legs.

Neo saw something move up the woman's back, and at first thought it was some kind of snake. Only when it moved off of her back did she noticed that the 'snake' was a tail, one you'd usually find on a tiger. " _Oh… she's from a faunus tribe…_ " Neo thought as the woman vaulted over the captain, so that she was crouched on top of him with her legs pinning his hands to his sides. She leaned back, taking a breath as her eyes suddenly shifted from their normal orange color to a bright green. When she opened her mouth to speak, Neo could even see some of the green light slipping from her mouth. " _Aal hin kopraan brud tiidnu lund do hin hah, Jaune Arc._ " she said. Then, she did something Neo hadn't expected. She leaned down, shutting her eyes as she pressed her lips against the captain's. She saw strange, green runes flowing down from the captain's mouth to the rest of his face, stopping at his neck. The woman pushed off, flipping herself around so that her head was over the captain's stomach, and she pulled back his shirt, exposing his smooth, barely-there abs. " _Aal hin skerah kos gein voth riin, Jaune Arc._ " she said.

She kissed his stomach, those same ruins flowing and lighting up his shirt, most of his body glowing green as the woman stepped back. Then she leaned down, pressing her lips against his forehead. " _Vopraan vok_." she said. She reached down, pulling on her robe as the captain sat upright, looking over at her. "Remind me why you have to kiss me when you do that Appi?" "It's the only way I can gather enough of my strength for the amount of trouble you put me through… that and I _know_ you like it~" she said, smirking towards him as his face sported a light red blush. He turned away, his eyes looking around the room for something to focus on besides the woman next to him.

Conveniently, he found a woman in front of him. "Sorry about that, monthly treatments for my uh, 'problem' she helps me with. Anyway," he stood up, taking off his hat and bowing at the waist, looking up to find he was now at eye-level with the small girl. "Acting Captain Jaune Arc, at your service milady." he said, sweeping his hat off to the right before placing it back on his head. Neo reached down, doing a small curtsy before she noticed Appi, apparently that was her name, step in front of her. " _Rithiik!_ Do no be so bold in front of the captain! He could have a _Sumaar sosaal_!" she said, slipping into her native tongue again as she looked back at Neo. Neo's eyes stayed brown, as she was confused about _many_ things going on right now, but then she looked down, realizing what the woman meant. When she curtsied, she pulled the jacket outwards out of habit, causing the captain to see…

Neo nodded frantically, suddenly pulling the coat as tight as she could, her face bright red and her eyes white in embarrassment. Appi nodded, turning back to find that Jaune had seemingly gotten back in control of everything, now that he could actually walk without holding onto something. He coughed, "Let's uh, get you some clothes before we do anything else. Can't go around wearing my coat forever huh?" Jaune said, letting out an awkward chuckle as Neo just looked at him, her eyes turning brown in confusion once again. Jaune didn't try and save himself with a reply, just walking past her as the small girl followed, leaving Appi alone in her nursing station again. The two walked down the hallways, Jaune speed walking as Neo had to resort to running to keep up with him, Jaune only stopping when he saw the door he was looking for.

Jaune heard and felt a light puff as he looked back, seeing Neo peeling herself off of his back, the two having collided from the sudden stop. "Uh, sorry." Jaune said before he turned, pulling open the door. Neo walked inside, her eyes widening slightly as she saw a large assortment of clothing, all different sizes and all different styles. Jaune started riffling through a few of them as Neo shut the door behind them. "We just raided a merchant ship full of clothing, what're the odds huh?" Jaune said, smiling over at Neo. Neo just nodded, feeling oddly compelled to smile back at him. Something about him made it hard not to smile. She walked around, pulling around clothes and looking for something to fit her, until she suddenly stopped, her eyes widening as she saw something. Something _perfect_.

It was actually rather simple, a brown pair of pants laid out on the table, with long, white boots beneath them, ones that looked like they'd be at if not just below Neo's knees. There was a black belt with a silver buckle on the front of it, one with a holster on either side, made not for guns but rather, daggers. The shirt was black, striped upwards instead of sideways like most would be, striped with a dark shade of gray at that. Behind that, there was a large, white jacket, one Neo could tell by looking it would reach somewhere around her knees. The inside of the jacket was actually a light pink color, one that matched Neo's hair, and it had three buttons near the top, made to button over the chest region. There was even what looked to be a pair of black gloves tucked into one of the pockets. "Hey, I found some underwear and a bra I think might fit you." Jaune said, walking back over to his shorter guest, holding a white bra and pink underwear. He couldn't find anything else for her.

Jaune felt himself jerked down as Neo gripped his arm pointing excitedly towards the clothing, a smile forcing itself onto her face. Jaune placed a hand on Neo's shoulder, "Oh, you want those? Take them, they're yours." he said. Neo barely thought about it as she snatched the underwear, dashing towards the clothing as she left Jaune's jacket back with him, causing him to immediately turn away from her and pull his coat on, trying not to think of the girl that had been naked beneath it not a few seconds ago. Jaune felt a tapping on his shoulder as he turned, raising an eyebrow when he saw the girl still covering her chest, already wearing the panties. "What is… oh, the ropes." Jaune said, reaching for his cutlass as he saw the ropes tied around her chest. Neo turned around, trying to keep still and remain calm as Jaune took his blade so close to her bare flesh.

As one could imagine, it was rather hard to 'stand still' when a pirate captain was behind her holding a sword just a few inches from her bare back. Still, she managed, and she felt the ropes fall down as she heard Jaune sheath his sword. "There you go. I'll wait outside for you." Jaune said as he turned away, shutting the door before he leaned against the wall, waiting for the girl to get dressed. Neo, wearing barely anything, didn't waste time, pulling on the clothing and going so far as to button up the jacket before she spun around, smiling as she patted herself down. She felt better now that she had clothes that at least _somewhat_ resembled her former choices in fashion, before her attempted execution. The only problem she had was that the shirt wasn't _quite_ long enough, as it exposed her small belly., though it still reached down well below her breasts.

Neo walked out a second later, "OW!" only to hear that and the door slowly moving back around. Neo slowly walked around the door, her eyes widening as she saw Jaune standing there, holding his nose. Neo reached over, gripping at his arm and looking up apologetically, a habit of hers from her days in the palace. These people had clothed her, saved her from her ocean, and she hurts them? It wasn't right in any sense of the word. "It's fine… probably shouldn't have stood in front of a door anyway." he said, letting out a small chuckle as Neo smiled at him, her eyes flashing pink and white in mild amusement. Jaune recovered after a second, the two of them walking towards the main deck. "Hey uh, you're a criminal aren't you? An assassin?" Jaune asked. Neo's right eye flashed brown, her left pink in a form of curiosity. How did he know what she'd been accused of so quickly ?

"I saw the brands and, well, I might not be _from_ Vale but, I'd like to think I have a good idea who they brand. So… is there someplace you want to go? Another target to kill?" he asked. Neo just shook her head, looking down at the ground as her eyes turned brown. Not in confusion this time, in _anger_. She could feel her blood boiling at the captain's words. " _Another target to kill? Someplace to go?_ " Neo thought spitefully. "You… don't have anywhere you want to go?" Jaune asked. Neo responded the same way as last time, a quick shake of her head. She was looking at the ground now, crossing her arms over her chest as she gripped them tighter around her elbows. She was fighting back tears of frustration. " _DAMN THAT BLONDE WHORE OF HIS! DAMN THAT JUDGE! DAMN THAT JUDGE! DAMN THAT HEAD GUARD OF HIS! WHY!? WHY ME!? WHAT DID I DO!?_ " she thought in rage.

Jaune, of course, heard none of this. He only saw her slightly trembling in rage, a single tear filled with more spite, anger and hatred than any that had ever fallen on the deck hit against the wooden floor. Jaune reached a hand over, gently placing it on Neo's shoulder. Neo's head jerked over, furious and somewhat teary brown eyes meeting kind and gentle blue ones. "Sorry I asked, if you don't, that's fine. If you don't actually… why don't you stay here? With us?" he asked. Neo's eyes went from angry to confused in no time at all… literally, since the colors were the same anyway. Stay there, with pirates? "You don't have to, but here… well, we're all kind of misfits that got screwed over by the kingdoms. That and… well, we kind of need an assassin on board. Your skills could come in handy on our next raid. So… you in?" he asked, holding out a hand to her, bending over so they were the same height.

Neo smiled, shaking his hand, but inside she was _panicking_. " _He needs an assassin? What if he wants me to kill!? I've never even killed before! What about weapons!? I've never even held a weapon! Why am I saying yes!? Why can't I say no!? Oh this is bad!_ " she thought. What Jaune _wasn't_ aware of about Neo was that she wasn't the assassin he thought she was. She was accused and, like many other times, the court had found an innocent victim. Neo had never killed in her life, she'd never held a gun in her life, the only thing she held was her kitchen knife and trays. What Jaune didn't know was that Neo wasn't Ozpin's would-be assassin.

She was his maid.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two: Captains and assassins (real _and_ fake)

 **(a/n- I won't say much but I will say Yang's showing up in this one… and she acts** _ **much**_ **more like sailors from that old expression… what was it again? It was relating to language… eh, I'll figure it out later, you guys know what I'm talking about already. (yeah you know how this is rated M? Yeah… can't say I didn't warn you.**

 **Edit: The Cursed Arkos is a _frigate_ , not a galleon. I uh... well, forgot to change the name in editing (galleon was a placeholder name))**

" _Mogar, lord of hunters._ "

A tall man is walking among the streets of Vale, in the twilight hours of the morning with only a few small groups of people milling about. It's no surprise for him, since he does this so often, but something about tonight is different. He's heading for a meeting, one that would possibly spell a peace between the kingdoms of Remnant. It would lead to a period of prosperity, where criminals could easily be rounded up and captured. At least, that's what the man believed. He confidently strode down the pathway, against the stone structures of the houses as he flipped a coin, catching it to see it land on heads. The man sauntered on, pocketing the coin as he looked forward to the meeting. There's one thing he doesn't know though.

He will never arrive.

" _May my hands be steady,_ "

Meanwhile, a small dog barks, startling the person next to them, silver eyes flying open as they looked around, only to soften as they looked down at their beloved black and white corgi. The eyes belong to a black haired girl, red tips on her shoulder length hair that moved just as she did, slowly and fluidly as she sat up from her lying position. She'd been camped out in that very spot since yesterday morning, waiting for the right opportunity. When she heard about the meeting, she _knew_ she had to strike now. She reached down, gently picking up a long musket, the sights on the back already flipped upright. The stock of the gun was of mahogany wood, painted with red and black swirls, just as the barrel was. The girl, Ruby Rose, pulled back the bolt, feeling the power of her gun as she aimed towards the man, everything else becoming unneeded.

" _My aim be true,_ "

BANG!

" _And my feet be swift._ "

The man dropped like a rock, unmoving, as people started calling out, rushing either over to help him or away to take cover from the unseen assailant. Ruby only stood, her face sporting a small smile, her gun smoking. She reached into her bag, grabbing out a small piece of tough meat she had, tossing it to her dog. Said dog jumped up, biting into it as Ruby leaned down, rubbing behind his ears. "Good boy. Now head home, I'll meet you there." she said, smiling as her dog complied with a happy bark, dashing off towards the docs. Ruby looked around, seeing some people pointing up towards her, some of the guards drawing their weapons and shouting at her. Not that she could understand them, she didn't speak native Mistralean, she didn't need to to kill one.

Ruby dashed off to the right as the first of the guards gunshots rang out, hitting against some of the tiles next to Ruby as she slid down the sloped roof, jumping off gripping to a nearby lamp, swinging herself around it before she hit the ground running, making a beeline for the docks. She swung her rifle over her shoulder as she dashed down an alley, seeing guards running towards her. Ruby only smirked, " _Catch me if you can boys._ " she thought tauntingly as she used the two walls around her, jumping up until she was over the wall in front of her. Then she rolled to the ground, landing in a crouch before she sprinted off once again.

Ruby ran, long and hard, taking shortcuts and weaving through back alleys until she finally saw the docks, where the familiar ship was docked. It was a large ship, larger than most ships of it's kind, equipped with twelves cannons port and starboard **(a/n- left and right respectively for ye land lubbers!)** side for a total of 24 cannons. They could be loaded with grapeshot, standard cannon balls, or even chain shots, not that the old girl had ever had to use them. A flag flew above the ship, attached to it's center mast, of which there were three. The flag was black, and two symbols were present, parallel to each other through crossing cutlasses. One of them belonged to Ruby, a rose stitched in red thread. The other belonged to the captain of the ship, a yellow heart with flames seeming to leak off near the top of it.

Ruby made her way towards the ship, walking right past the guards. They must've not heard what happened yet. After all, it would take them almost an hour to get the entire port on lockdown to hunt the assassin. For Ruby? Oh it had only taken her maybe three minutes to get back here. She walked towards the ship, seeing her trusty dog waiting at the gangplank. She was just a few steps away when she heard something she didn't want to hear. "MA'AM!" one of the nearby guards yelled. Ruby turned around, watching him approaching her. He didn't speak Ruby's language well, but he spoke it well enough to communicate. There were other guards running in, drawing their rifles and aiming them towards the younger girl. "You are under arrest!" the guard said, reaching towards her. Ruby didn't move, only smirking as the man tried to grab her hand, only for another to painfully bend his wrist back.

"Get your filthy fucking hands off my baby sister."

The woman that was speaking was dressed in a long, brown coat, stretching down to the waist before splitting into coat tails. Beneath it they had an X, just barely large enough to keep anything indecent from showing, and that X was _lined_ with flint-lock pistols, four of them on each side. On the figures arms small, yellow gauntlets could be seen, stretching back into their sleeves. Beneath that she wore a small pair of black shorts, or perhaps underwear? It was rather hard to tell really. Around their waist there were a few tubes of some red substance, as bright as the figures eyes were right now. The most noticeable thing, and the reason the guard was so afraid, was the unruly and long mane of blonde hair. Some people might know the name Yang Xiao Long, some might know of her ship.

But _everyone_ knew of her hair.

Yang pulled the man back, tossing him back over into the space between her ship and the dock, smirking as she heard a satisfying 'plop' from the man going overboard. She saw some of the guards walking towards her, aiming their guns at her. She only smirked, her eyes turning lilac for a second before she reached down, gently picking up a red vial. She cracked open the top of it, holding it up to her nose as she inhaled, her eyes widening as she sighed, dropping the cracked vial. " _Fuck_ me that's pure~ Hehehehe~" she said, letting out some strange laughter as one of the guards took a shot at her. To the guards, it looked like her hand teleported, blocking the bullet with her gauntlet. To Yang though, it was the opposite.

Time _froze_.

What Yang had inhaled just a few moments ago was none other than her substance of choice, the thing that gave her such a large edge in combat. That thing was a little drug the tribals called 'turbo'... or, maybe 'turban', it was hard to tell sometimes. Tribal words didn't translate that well into any normal language. Yang pressed on her palms, a blade coming from each of her gauntlets as she dashed forward, her eyes red and wide as the bullets seemed to either bounce off her, miss, or get deflected by her gauntlets. She stabbed two of the guards within seconds, dashing towards the other ones as Ruby fired her own rifle, taking down one further away. Yang killed two of the others guards without flinching before she stood straighter, drawing two of her pistols.

She fired all six of them into the approaching guards, six shots and six kills. Ruby fired off two rounds in that time, killing two more. The two seemed unstoppable. One of them seemed to realize this, holding up his hands as he tried to surrender, pleading with the woman in Mistralean. Yang seemed to sense this and, even in her drug induced state, only punched the man to the ground, throwing him over her shoulder as she walked on the ship. "Cami! Get us outta here!" Yang yelled towards the small woman at the wheel, dressed like one would think a pirate would be, with the striped shirt, scarf over her head and everything, just no eyepatch.

She almost effortlessly pulled out of the dock, the crew having unfurled the sails the moment Yang had started her killing. Cami just started driving, heading out into sea as Yang looked down at her stirring captive. "Look who's waking up. Speak English?" Yang asked, looking down at the man as he looked up at her, eyes wide as he tried blinking a few times, wiping away at them. Yang snarled as she kicked him in the stomach, knocking him onto the side of the deck. "Hey! You speak fuckin' English!? Huh!? You speak it you fucking cunt!? You speak it!? Answer the damn question!" Yang yelled, kicking the man at every opportunity. Until, that is, Ruby gripped her sister's shoulder.

"Calm down Yang, he doesn't speak English." Ruby said, looking at her sister with both a stern yet loving gaze, something Ruby had grown rather used to doing, being a sniper and all. Yang just nodded, glaring down and kicking the man one more time. She looked towards two of her crewmen, walking towards her and her sister. "I want him naked and tied up in the smallest jail cell on this ship. Tell the twins I wanna see them in my cabin when I get there." Yang said, smirking slightly towards the nearly unconscious man. The two men nodded, picking up the man and nearly dragging him towards the jail cell, Ruby looking off towards him, a spark of pity in her heart for the poor man. She knew what Yang would do to him if she didn't just kill him. It wouldn't end well.

Yang walked towards her cabin, Ruby following for a few seconds before Yang turned, reaching around and swiftly removing Ruby's cape, looking down at her clothes. Yang took one look at them before she let out a small chuckle, "Wash off the makeup and change clothes, you look like a whore." "Yang!" Ruby said, pouting towards her sister before she turned around, swiftly walking back towards her cabin. Ruby looked down, sighing slightly. She couldn't say her sister was _wrong_ , considering what she was wearing for her disguise, but she could've at _least_ been a bit less blunt about the whole thing. The clothes that made Ruby look like a whore, according to Yang, was a simple red bra, a long, bronze ring around her waist holding up a red silky skirt, covering her black underwear. Beneath that she wasn't wearing shoes, she'd ditched the high heels of her outfit earlier, and over it of course was her trusty red cloak.

Of course, Ruby had to put on a bit of makeup as well to make it believable, a bit of eye shadow here, some pink lipstick there, it wasn't much but it was enough to make her at least _look_ like one of the common 'ladies of the evening' in Mistral. Of course, she hadn't _dared_ actually seducing the man she'd been sent to kill. She was a killer sure but, she had _some_ standards. That and, frankly, she preferred killing from a distance anyway. Dragging herself from her thoughts, Ruby walked in through the cabins, her trusty hound Zwei trotting along at her feet as she unclipped the belt, swinging it over her shoulder before she walked into her room, located right next to Yang's. Great for meetings and if she had a nightmare, but _terrible_ if Yang had the twins over… which she did tonight… " _If the weather looks good I'll head up to the Crow's nest, sleep out there._ " she thought.

She walked into her room, tossing the belt aside before she collapsed on her bed, seeing her trusty companion shutting the door behind them with his little feet… of course, it helped that the ship was moving at that given point, making his job _much_ easier. Ruby smiled as she leaned down, holding out a hand towards Zwei as he came over. She rubbed behind his ears, the spot _just_ where he liked it. "Good boy." she said before she leaned back, feeling the exhaustion from the night before hitting her like a freight train. She'd been up most of the night waiting for her target, only for him to show up right in the early morning, _just_ as she was dozing off. Thankfully Zwei had woken her up in time. She pulled the covers up over her and shut her eyes, " _I'll change and get the makeup off later… won't be sleeping much tonight anyway._ " she thought, as she could already hear the voices of the twins coming down the hall as she drifted off to sleep.

…

"Rise and shine captain."

A sarcastic voice said to the woman in the wooden jail cell. She slowly opened her eyes, looking down through the bars of her prison, suspended from a high tree and hung precariously over thirty feet in the air. She shivered in the cold as she moved her arms, trying to cover her naked body as she looked down, seeing the man looking up at her. He was clad in the familiar black uniform of the Mistralean Royal Guard, the captain of the guard in particular. The woman could tell thanks to the red rose that adorned his black coat, as well as the traditional white mask he wore. The woman tried to use her semblance, but found that the man carried no metal on him, not even on his belt. He must've been warned about her.

She looked around, seeing that someone was approaching the side of her cell from a platform, one attached to the nearby tree. They slid a wooden tray through the space in the bars, filled with a disgusting and likely undercooked leg of mutton. The woman's eyes widened as she leaped at it, tearing into it with her teeth as she hunched over, gnawing on the bone once she was done. It was terrible, but at the same time, it was the only food she'd been given in almost a week. She looked down again, seeing the captain walk up the steps, standing near her with a small smirk on his face. "Look at you, caught in a wooden cage, naked, eating anything we give you. I'd dare say you've become no better than an animal." he said, smirking towards her as he lightly tapped the cage.

"Fuck you." the woman said, her eyes sparkling in defiance as she glared through the bars, her long hair doing enough to cover her large chest. Beneath her waist… well, that was another story. The captain glared towards her before he nodded to the other man, reaching through the bars and forcing the woman's chest against them, her breasts sticking out through her meal slot as her hands were forced through the holes, her arms pulled through by the captain. The woman struggled, but it was no use. The captain was both older and stronger than she was. Her eyes widened as she saw the other man come back, setting down a table filled with tools, all of them made of either stone or wood. In any case, her semblance wouldn't help her here.

The captain grabbed one of the items, this one a stone knife, made to be moderately sharp. "You've been resilient so far Nikos, I'm impressed. Just tell me where your little crew is so I can end your suffering." he said. The woman glared right back at him, but quickly shut her eyes, grunting as she felt the man nearly break the stone knife against her breast. He hit again and again, no doubt trying to break her aura. Pyrrha let out a scream as the knife cut into her bare flesh, her aura broken. "Six strikes huh? You're getting weaker it seems. Alright, she's clear to let out." the captain said, standing up and pushing the woman back through the bars, where she immediately gripped at her bleeding chest.

The door was opened, and the captain wasted no time in tying off ropes to the woman's wrists, forcing her upright and forward. Her punched her in the stomach to force her mouth open, where the other man immediately gagged her with a nearby cloth, tying it behind her to keep her mouth shut. He jerked on the ropes and, begrudgingly, the woman followed him. She tried to keep her embarrassment concealed, but when walking through the courtyard of a castle, your naked body exposed to countless prying and lustful eyes, it was hard _not_ to at least blush. "Hey Adam!" one of the guards yelled, "How much to take that smokin' piece of ass off your hands?" he asked, the guards around him laughing as Pyrrha looked away, glaring at the man ahead of her, who smiled back. "Sorry, but she needs to be able to walk. I know you won't go easy on her!" he said, causing the man who'd yelled to blush, everyone else laughing, it even got _Pyrrha_ to let out a small chuckle behind her gag.

She was pulled into the large walls of the castle, made of old bamboo and metal supports, and down a nearby staircase, heading for the real dungeon. Of course, with her aura broken and her body weak, it was all Pyrrha could do to keep walking, let alone use her semblance to try and run. She was forced down stone stairs until the captain stopped, untying her hands but, naturally, keeping a tight grip on them. He roughly pulled her over, kicking her legs out from under her as a fire of pain spread from Pyrrha's skull, a small trickle of blood coming from her head hitting the ground. Adam didn't care, tying her ankles together before looping the rope through a small metal ring attached to the roof. He hoisted Pyrrha up until her feet were near the ceiling before tying it off, keeping her from falling.

Adam walked near her, sitting down and smirking up towards bare body as he reached over, taking the handcuffs attached to the ground and latching them onto Pyrrha's wrists, forcing them down and her legs up. "To think, the second most feared pirate captain to ever sail the seas, commander of the infamous ship, The Cursed Arkos. Who'd have thought you'd be here? Tied up and helpless, at the mercy of the Mistral Captain of the Royal Guard." he said, smirking towards her. Pyrrha tried to swear at him again, but the cloth made that rather difficult, as well as the blood rushing to her head. Adam stood, walking away as the man in the black mask came forwards, pushing with him a cart laid down with torture tools. "Torture her until she's begging for death," Adam said, watching as the torturer grabbed out two metal clamps. Adam turned as he heard the rattling and screaming, the torturer having removed the gag.

"Just make sure she can still talk when you're done."

…

Neo was not having a good day.

First, she was wrongfully accused of attempting to murder Emperor Ozpin and sentenced to hang. Second, she was branded with the mark of both death and the assassin brand, preventing her from ever setting _foot_ in Vale if she didn't cover them both. Third, everyone that she knew and loved had turned against her. Fourth, arguably the worst one, she was stuck on a pirate ship, and she would no doubt be needed to kill someone or infiltrate somewhere, using her non-existent skills as an assassin. Though, looking at the acting Captain, Jaune Arc, and seeing that smile of his, it somehow put her mind more at ease. He seemed to have that effect on people, even most of his crew were smiling and waving when he walked by. Maybe it was his semblance?

She and Jaune were currently taking a tour of the ship, Jaune showing off the large, repurposed Vale Frigate as Neo pretended to listen. She was moderately interested in some off the features the pirates had added, but she'd been on Vale Frigate's _countless_ times when travelling abroad with Ozpin. She _did_ note that The Cursed Arkos -that was the name of the ship- was far more formidable than an average Frigate, even the royal one's she'd been in! For starters, it had forty-eight cannons, twenty-four either side. That was twelve more than the average Vale Navy Frigate, which had only thirty-six. It had three sails, which was standard, and three masts. The deck was made of a sturdy oak wood, with the masts of a lighter cedar. The most unique thing about the ship, other than the name and cannons, was probably the bow.

The bow of the ship was comprised of iron, surprisingly, like a coating on the front of the ship, jutting out into a fine point at the very edge. If Neo's guess was right, it was made for ramming into other ships before boarding. Jaune walked back towards the interior of the ship, pulling open the door and motioning Neo in. "After you." he said, smiling at her, to which she was powerless not to smile back. Neo walked in, letting her eyes adjust to the dark as Jaune just kept walking, shifting his eyepatch over to his other eye. He seemed to catch Neo's curious gaze, despite the fact she was looking just above him. "What? Think I wore it because I didn't have an eye?" he asked, smirking towards Neo as she blushed slightly, shaking her head. She had started to adjust to the lighting, at least to the point that she could see the smirk on Jaune's face.

"We need to get you one, we wear them so that one eye's always adjusted to the dark, when we go on daytime raids you know?" Jaune said, explaining the purpose of his eyepatch to Neo… who could probably use one, on account of just walking into a wall. Jaune gently gripped her wrist, pulling her closer to him so that she wasn't a danger to anyone else walking… or herself for that matter. He didn't want that long hair of hers catching on fire through one of the candles. Neo, who still hadn't quite adjusted to the dimly lit interior, didn't question the pressure on her wrist, or the sense of being pulled closer to someone else. She just went with it, following Jaune, at least that's who she assumed was guiding her, deeper into the ship.

Jaune took her throughout a tour of the entire ship, barring only some of the crew's personal cabins and the treasure stash. The treasure stash since the true captain, Pyrrha, had told him to allow no one into the stash other than her and himself. With the cabins… he may have had every right to go into them, being the acting captain and all but, to him, it was still an invasion of privacy to barge in without permission if they weren't there. He showed her the ways to the cannons, the armaments, the navigation rooms, the crow's nest, everything. He walked back around, stopping at the door to his own quarters and looking outside, seeing the moon shining through one of the nearby hatches, leading to the deck.

Jaune looked down at Neo and, sure enough, the time of day hadn't escaped her notice either, if the tired expression and silent yawning were anything to go by. Jaune smiled, pushing open the door to his quarters. It was a modest living for the modest man, full size bed in the corner, a desk next to it, a small chest at the foot of the bed for extra blankets and such, a rather large chair off to the side, a large chest for all the important things, and a desk to keep all the items in, as well as a few of Appi's tribal remedies for whenever she couldn't help him with his 'problem' at the given moment. He walked in, pointing towards the bed, "You can sleep here until we get you your own cabin, I'm fine sleeping in the-" Jaune had barely said the words when he looked over, seeing Neo curling up in the chair, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Chair…" he muttered, smiling slightly towards the small girl.

"Okay, I know you might want to break them in but, you should probably get undressed." Jaune said, reaching over and tapping on Neo's forehead. Her eyes widened as she sat bolt upright, her face burning red. Jaune's own face burned as he realized why, "No no! I didn't mean-! I meant-! Not that you aren't pretty-! I just-! Uh, NOT LIKE THAT! I meant your clothes might, uh, get wrinkled! That was it! They might get wrinkled and dirty and you wouldn't have anything to wear!" he said, his face burning as he stepped back, trying to take back what he said. Neo, having gotten over her initial embarrassment, only smiled, letting out a slight, amused giggle as Jaune sighed, slowly shaking his head as he laid his hat on his desk, placing his two pistols over the sides to keep it from falling off in the middle of the night.

He heard his door open as he turned, raising an eyebrow as he say Appi walking into the room, dressed in her black cloak as always. She was carrying something in her hands too, a pink nightgown. "I figured _Yun sos_ could use something to sleep in." she turned directly towards Neo, "Jaune may be a gentleman, but I doubt he'd fare well with a _liinus kon_ sleeping next to him in bra and panties." she said, giggling slightly as Neo blushed. She had _no_ clue what " _liinus kon_ " meant, but she had a feeling she didn't want to know. Jaune, whose face immediately went red as he started sputtering excuses and accusations towards Appi, _did_ know what the word meant, since it's how Appi described Pyrrha and, really _anyone_ she found attractive… minus the _kon_ part, since that just meant _girl_.

Appi walked over, lightly pecking Jaune's check, "Have a nice night you two.~" she said, walking away as Jaune… he didn't even _try_ to hide the blush on his face anymore. He really _couldn't_ at this stage. It was rather surprising the room wasn't more lit by his face than the candles around him. Neo, on the other hand, just stood, taking the nightgown and looking up at Jaune expectantly. "What? Are you gonna try it on or not?" he asked, his blush dying down as his face gave way to confusion. Neo's own face heated up as she shook her head, pointing at the nightgown and, when that failed, to her chest, unbuttoning her jacket. Jaune's face heated up again after that one, "Oh… right, sorry." he said, turning around and sitting on the bed, laying down and covering his face with one of his two pillows.

Neo, making sure Jaune wasn't looking, slipped behind the chair, discarding her clothes, other than her underwear, and pulled the nightgown over her body. It was, surprisingly, rather comfortable, much like the one she used to wear. She walked back over to the chair, looking over at Jaune and letting out a quiet whistle. Jaune pulled the pillow off his face, looking over at her for a quick second before sitting up, laying the pillow back down. "You uh… sure you don't wanna take the bed?" he asked, gesturing towards the item he was sitting on. Of course, he wanted to sleep on his own bed, but she was both an assassin (who he was slightly scared of), a lady, and a guest until a few hours ago.

Neo shook her head, curling up on the chair, and letting her eyes shut, her head almost nuzzling into the nook between the chairs cushion and the arm. Jaune only smiled at her as her breathing evened out, she seemingly just fell asleep right away. He stood, walking over to the small chest, pulling out a small, brown blanket. He walked over to Neo, laying it over her small body, finding it to be _just_ the right size for her. Neo's eyes fluttered open, flashing pink in appreciation as she gave Jaune a little smile. He smiled back, ending the wordless exchange by turning around, heading back towards his own bed. He pulled off his jacket, belt, pants, shirt, everything but his underwear just about, and slipped beneath the covers, turning around and looking towards Neo, slowly shutting his eyes. As they shut, he couldn't help but wonder how such a small and seemingly innocent girl be an assassin.

…

A few hours later, Neo opened her eyes.

Jaune didn't know she had, only that a loud thud on the ground awoke him from his dream… well, that was a lie. He hadn't _really_ been sleeping, just kind of staring at the roof, in a half-daze, hoping for morning to come and end it. He did that often, after a nightmare. Sometimes they were about his family, sometimes they were about the people he'd been forced to kill, sometimes they were about Pyrrha. Tonight's was… different. It was one of those rare times it wasn't _about_ anything, just a strange, feeling of fear. It permeated his dream, drowning out anything, anyone, and any meaning behind it, other than fear. That was all Jaune could remember of that night's dream.

"What was that?" he muttered to himself, thinking that perhaps his hat had fallen off, in which case he'd have been thankful the pistols were only loaded when he was readying for a raid. Though, when he looked over, he found that everything on his desk was normal. Same journal's, same inkwell and pen, same everything. That was the way with the whole room, except one thing. That _thing_ , being Neo. Neo was standing up, slowly and methodically, as if in a trance. She walked towards the door to the cabin, bumping her head against it a few times before Jaune stood, raising an eyebrow at his small guest. "You know there's such thing as a door handle right?" he asked sarcastically, hoping to snap her out of it.

It didn't work, but she _did_ seem to hear him, on account of how she realized how to open a door again once he said it. Jaune raised an eyebrow, grabbing the candle from the nearby wall and, in nothing but his underwear, followed the walking girl. Jaune would've called her name… but, he'd never actually _asked_ her. The _one_ thing he'd forgotten to ask for when they'd been introduced. Not that he thought she'd answer him. He hadn't heard her speak a _single_ word while she was on the ship. He followed Neo until she got to the kitchen, rather strange, and pulled out some things from the cabinet. At this stage, Jaune knew Neo was sleep walking, brandishing a knife as if she'd done it all her life, cutting into vegetables and other things. Only one thought was going through his head.

" _Do all assassin's cook in their sleep?_ "


	3. The shortest chapter so far

Chapter three: Truths and falsehoods

"Well… you aren't the _strangest_ thing I've ever fished out of the ocean."

A man said, giving a slight smile towards his guest. The 'guest' was a young, red-headed woman, sparkling blue eyes slowly opening and gazing around the room. She was laid down on a bed, tucked beneath a dark green blanket. She looked down, her eyes widening, face burning as she pulled the blanket up to her chin, looking towards the man across from her. "Uh… why am I naked?" "Your guess is as good as mine. We found you that way." he said, walking into the light. He pulled over a chair, sitting down across from the bed. He placed his elbows on his knees, making a platform for his hands as he set down his chin.

The man was clad in what seemed to be a bright green coat, with what may have been a pink inside. At his waist there was what looked to be a katana, which he pulled forwards, setting across his lap, white pants right beneath it. He looked up, bright green eyes meeting the blue of the woman's. "Who are you?" she asked, her brow scrunched in confusion as she tried to recall if she'd seen the man before. Had she passed out in a tavern somewhere? Or had she gone home with a stranger again? Then again, one thing usually led to another so… she was kind of surprised she hadn't seen the man at least once. There weren't _that_ many people in the town she'd last gotten drunk in. "My name's Lie Ren. I'm-" "The Killing Lotus." she said, finishing for him as her yes widen.

The most notorious bounty hunter in Remnant was standing right in front of her.

He smiled at her, tipping his hat towards her as he leaned back, taking his katana out of it's sheath, running a cloth he produced from his waist across it a few times. "My reputation precedes me. I was out looking for the Valkyrie raiders, more specifically their leader. We happened across you floating on some driftwood, so I told them to bring you on board. Who are you, anyway?" he asked, his eyes kind yet curious, cold yet concerned. The woman felt her skin pale as she looked away, up towards the roof of the cabin as she laid back on the bed. She was tempted to try and fall asleep again, but she knew he wouldn't fall for it. "Nora… Nora Branwen." she said, blatantly lying. If he knew who she really was… well, that wouldn't end well. Branwen was the best name she could think of on the spot. Of the Branwens, one was a hitman, the other a scout for Mistral. Good and bad.

Ren nodded, smiling slightly as he held out his hand, "Well Ms. Branwen, it's nice to meet you." "You too… nice to meet you! Too… I mean…" she said, fumbling with her words for a moment as she tried to remember exactly what she had _meant_ to say in the first place. Ren only smiled at this, standing up and walking towards the door. Before he did, he tossed back what looked to be a bright pink nightgown over his shoulder, landing in the floor just in front of Nora. "It's not much, but it's the only thing I could find that might cover you. I need to plot out our course, so I'll be back in about five minutes." he said, stepping out the door, shutting it behind him.

Nora stood, slipping the pink nightgown over her bare body as she looked around the room. There was a large desk not a few feet away from where she was sleeping, a map of remnant laid out along it. On the wall across from her there were what looked to be wanted posters, stuck to the wall with knives. She walked over to it, smiling as she saw one of the wanted posters. It read: "WANTED: Nora Valkyrie, leader of the Valkyrie raiders. Reward: 25,000 lien. Crimes: Murder in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree, theft, petty theft, grand larceny, minor larceny, pirating, indecent exposure, manslaughter, arson, destruction of government property, destruction of private property, trespassing, fraud, see constable for full list of crimes.". Nora couldn't help but smile when looking at it, as her wanted poster stretched from the center of the wall to the floor.

" _How he didn't see through my bullshit, I don't know._ " she thought as she looked up, seeing a black square where there was normally an image. After all, no one knew what Nora Valkyrie looked like, she'd always worn a mask on her raids. She pitied the man who had to write out all those crimes. She reached over, tapping on the leader of the Valkyrie raiders part of the poster. " _Need to update it, should say EX leader of the Valkyrie raiders… stupid bastards._ " she thought with a frown as she recalled her gang. She didn't _quite_ remember how she ended up in Ren's bed, but she _did_ remember being thrown off her own ship, along with a small number of her crew. Fed to the sharks. " _Still doesn't explain why I was naked… oh well. I was in my pajamas anyway._ " she thought, walking towards the door. She pushed it open, looking around the hallway to find it empty.

She stepped out, quietly shutting the door behind her as she started walking down the hall, heading off to the right. "OW!" until, of course, she was stopped by the enemy of many great (and not so great) pirates. A wooden door. She staggered back, holding her nose as she looked through blurry lenses, seeing none other than Ren himself walk out. He frowned towards her, "Uh, sorry." he said simply. Nora just nodded, still holding her nose as she walked ahead, bumping into the door… then the wall… then the _other_ wall, until Ren simply grabbed her arm, guiding her into the room he was in. In her defense, her eyes _were_ still teary from the impact.

"She yours Ren?" a voice said from within the room. Nora blinked through her tears, letting them slowly spill out as she saw the owner of said voice. It was a tall man, with messy black hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in what seemed to be a long, orange kimono with gray highlights, and he thudded a black and orange staff against the wooden deck. Ren shook his head, giving him a brief smile, "No, fished her out of the ocean." he said, stepping aside. Nora walked forward, staying near Ren and looking down at the desk the man was standing behind. There was what appeared to be a map on it, with a few locations marked through with black ink. The man was holding a quill, no doubt the ship's navigator.

The man held out a hand, "Hello. Bolin Hori, navigator of the flying lotus." he said, never changing his expression. Nora nodded, holding out her hand and shaking his. She gave him a slight smile, "Nora Branwen. Navigator of the… well, I guess I'm not really a navigator anymore." she said, frowning towards the map. Ren placed a hand on her shoulder, raising an eyebrow. He was demanding answers from her, all without saying a word. Nora answered, she seemed powerless to his cold gaze, "I _was_ the navigator of the Bane of Atlas… until the mutiny that is. Asshole named Cardin joined the crew a few months back. He rallied support from the human crew and killed every faunus on board, _and_ anyone that supported them. You can tell what crowd me and the old captain fell in with. They must've liked me or something, since they knocked me out and next thing I know I'm waking up in your bed." she said, glaring at the ground.

Ren looked over at Bolin, the two men nodding as they had a wordless exchange. "Do you know where they are Nora?" Ren asked. Nora nodded, of _course_ she knew where they were. Even though she used to be the leader, she _was_ also the navigator, since no one else knew how to read a compass apparently. Ren smiled, "They're asking for the leader for the reward, and if the current leaders dead… well, that means the bounty just shifted to Cardin." he said, giving a small smirk. Nora returned it, realizing what he was going for. Not only would she be able to get revenge on the man that had murdered half her crew, stole her ship, and threw her in the ocean, but she would _also_ be able to clear her name. After all, everyone would think she was dead. "I'll make you a deal. You help us find these guys, and when we get paid, you get a cut like everyone else. We'll also get your name cleared of any crimes you committed under Valkyrie's rule." he said. She smiled,

"Deal, but if they try and fight, _I_ get to kill Cardin Winchester."

…

Jaune was… confused would be an understatement.

He stood there, in his underwear, just watching the assassin cook. She started a fire, boiled some water, cut into vegetables in a way faster than even the chef of the ship had ever done. He didn't know how long he watched her, maybe minutes, maybe an hour, but eventually she organized everything onto a plate, a modest thing you'd make for breakfast. She set it down, her eyes widening as she turned around. She grabbed a knife, dashing towards Jaune, as if running from something. Jaune stood, grabbing her wrists just as she was about to run out the door. He held her hands up, pressing his thumb into her wrist the way Pyrrha had taught him, causing her to drop the knife, looking up at him with wide, fearful eyes.

"Hey! Hey, it's okay… your safe…" he said, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her against him. She wrapped her arms right back, and if the wet sense on his chest was anything to go by, she was crying for a few seconds. When she looked back, her eyes focusing on him, they trailed down, her eyes and face both turning pink. Jaune looked over towards the food, then the girl. He asked the question he should have asked earlier that day. "What's your name anyway?" he said. The girl frowned towards him, holding up her hands slowly. She curled her hand into a fist, sticking her thumb between her middle and ring finger. Then she moved her thumb back, resting all her other fingers on it. Finally she made an O with her hand, her breath bated in anticipation. Jaune frowned, "Let's see… N… E… O? Neo? Is that your name?" Neo let out a sigh of relief, her eyes turning white as she nodded.

"Why were you cooking? Is that uh… is that something most assassin's do?" he asked. She shook her head no. Jaune raised an eyebrow, rubbing his chin slightly as he walked over, looking down towards the food. It actually _did_ look incredibly well prepared and good, despite the fact there was no meat to go with the vegetables she'd fixed. "Who were you trying to kill whenever you… you know, got caught?" he asked. She slowly held up her hands, making an O, holding out her index finger and drawing a Z, flexing out her index finger, tapping her thumb to her middle finger, pointing down, holding up her pinky while crossing her middle and index finger with her thumb, and making that same symbol for N again.

"O… Z… P… I… wait, what?! You were trying to assassinate emperor _Ozpin?!_ " he asked. She nodded, moving her fingers again. Jaune frowned, motioning for her to do it again. He was so shocked he missed her gesture. "M… A… I… D? Maid? Was that your cover? You worked as Ozpin's maid?" he asked. She shook her head, causing Jaune's confusion to grow. Then it dawned on him. "You're… not an assassin, are you?" he asked, feeling his shoulders lower as she nodded yes. He sighed, standing up a bit straighter as Neo gripped the knife, her eyes turning brown as she felt her back flush against the wall. She _knew_ how angry captains got if you lied to them, she'd been on the receiving end of that stick _far_ too many times.

Instead Jaune just chuckled, "Well, this is some kind of mess we've got ourselves into isn't it?" he asked, giving Neo a disarming smile. She lowered the knife, smiling back as she felt herself start relaxing. There it was again, that strangely, disarming personality of his. Neo was still convinced that was his semblance. She signed out again, " _How did you know what I was saying?_ " she didn't _honestly_ expect an answer out of him, so one could imagine her surprise when he signed back. " _I had seven sisters, two were deaf and one was mute._ " he replied. Neo blinked a few times, still processing what he'd said.

"Yeah yeah, parents need a new hobby, go ahead, I've heard it before." he said. Only Neo shook her head, holding up all ten of her fingers. Jaune raised an eyebrow, rather confused as to what she meant. Then his eyes widened, "Oh… you've got ten siblings?" " _Yeah. All sisters. Believe it or not I'm the tallest AND the youngest._ " she said. Jaune just laughed, he couldn't help himself. The _tiny_ girl standing in front of him was the tallest in a family of eleven? It was almost too funny to be true."Well, that's not the _most_ out there story I've heard. Back to the point though… why didn't you tell me?" he asked. He wasn't really _mad_ at her, but he was rather curious as to why she'd kept it a secret.

" _I thought you might do,_ " there was a pause where she didn't sign for a moment " _things, to me, if I told you I was just a maid._ " she said. Jaune's face burned light pink as he shook his head, signing that he would never, _ever_ , do that to a woman without their consent. Neo only giggled, signing back, " _I'm not deaf, you can just talk around me._ " she said. Jaune just nodded, feeling embarrassed both at what she thought he was going to do… and the fact that he'd just signed something to a girl that could understand him perfectly. " _I'll leave you guys at the next port… just please, don't take me back to Vale._ " she signed, frowning towards Jaune. Jaune raised an eyebrow.

"Why're you leaving?" " _You… still want me here?_ " Neo asked, a pause between her gestures as she thought of what to say. Jaune just nodded, giving her a small smile as he pulled a chair over, sitting down in front of Neo, laying his arm on his knee. "You remember what I said when we met? How we were all misfits that got screwed over by the kingdoms? Seems like you're still cut to be one of us. There were two people on this ship that were _real_ criminals, and that was Pyrrha and Appi. I mean, look at me. I was just a farmer until…" he reached towards his underwear, lightly pulling back to expose his upper thigh to Neo. Her eyes widened as she saw it, the two arches pointing upwards. The people in Vale had her twin-blades heart symbol, and Mistral had that one. It could only mean one thing,

He was found guilty of murder.

"Before you ask, I didn't do it. I was accused, found guilty, and sentenced to hang. I poured on the old Arc charm though, got my way out, bought passage to Vale, and got on the first ship out of there." he said, smiling the whole time as he moved his boxers back, his face flushing as he remembered that he was in his underwear in front of the small woman. Neo didn't seem as embarrassed though, raising an eyebrow. " _Arc charm?_ " "Well, really it's _my_ charm. Not everyone in my family has it. You've got a semblance right?" he asked. Neo only nodded, smiling slightly as she shut her eyes, a flash of light encompassing her. She looked down, Jaune's eyes widening as she saw that instead of Neo, Appi stood before him, with her signature smirk and all. Her image cracked after a second, breaking into a thousand pieces before shattering, leaving the small, nightgown wearing Neo in it's place.

"Disguises… nice. Well, you can do that, Appi can heal, and I can talk. I can't control it or anything, maybe it's not even a semblance, but people usually don't say no to me. The guard was a girl so I talked to her for awhile, asked her to have some fun with me in my cell, and when she walked in I stole her keys and locked it behind her. I unlocked a few of the other cells while I was at it, then they unlocked more, started beating up the guards and… well, Mistral needed a new prison by the time I was sailing to Vale." he said, chuckling slightly. Neo's eyes flashed pink, widening as they did so. _He_ was the one behind the massive prison outbreak a few years ago? The one where hundreds of convicts burned down a prison and ran wild around the city for almost a week before the guards could catch them all? _Jaune_ did that?!

"Point is, you're still welcome on the ship. You're just like us: A good person who did bad things to get out of being punished for a bad thing they didn't do. Who now does bad things to those that did bad things to them as… well, you get the idea." he said, sheepishly scratching his head. Neo just nodded, yawning as she gave Jaune a tired smile. Jaune stood, looking back over at the food Neo had prepared. He walked over, grabbing it and taking it over to her, holding out the tray. "Here. You made it, may as well eat it." he said. Neo shook her head, gesturing towards Jaune. Jaune raised an eyebrow, but then nodded, smiling slightly. "Okay… how about we share it then? Back in the cabin?" he asked. Neo smiled, letting out another yawn as she turned, walking back as Jaune followed her.

After a few minutes they arrived, Neo walking in as Jaune set the tray down on his desk, right behind his hat. He took the large chair Neo was sleeping in, pulling it back towards the desk, pushing it out slightly as Neo walked towards him. She raised an eyebrow, pointing to the food and him. "How do we share… oh yeah, that is a problem. We've only got the one…" he muttered, looking down towards the chair he was sitting on. Neo, seemingly groggy from her tired state, just walked over, causing Jaune's face to burn as she sat down, right between his legs. Thanks to her small size and the chairs large size, she actually did fit snuggle between Jaune's legs, his stretching out _well_ past Neo's knees. She reached forward, grabbing one of the forks and starting to eat without much other question, while Jaune just looked down in shock.

After a second though, he just looked away, reaching forward and grabbing the other fork, trying not to think about the girl that was practically sitting in his lap… it wasn't working that well. " _Why is she doing this?! Is this normal for her?! Maybe this is a royalty thing, no! That doesn't make sense either! Okay, calm down Jaune, just DON'T think about her pressing against your… NO! I said DON'T!_ " Jaune thought, taking a bite of the vegetables as he focused on how well Neo had made them, rather than her presence in front of him. Thankfully, Neo had done remarkably well in that regard, making it rather easy for him to just focus on the taste. "Wow. Guess Ozpin had good tastes if he picked you huh?" he said, smiling down at Neo. Neo frowned, her fork trembling slightly as she set it down, looking at the floor.

"Still a… sore subject, huh?" Jaune asked, frowning towards Neo, his embarrassment forgotten for the moment. Neo only nodded, clasping her hands together in front of her. Knuckles white, teeth grinding, eyes burning. Jaune saw a tear drip down Neo's face, slowly trickling down her check before it fell onto her knee. He could hear her sniffles and muffled cries. She was fighting it, but Jaune could tell with ease. Neo's eyes widened as she two arms snaked around her, pulling her back against Jaune's bare chest. "Crying might be a sign of weakness, and when you're a pirate, you need to stay strong. But…" he smiled down at Neo, "if you ever need to cry, I won't judge you for it." he said.

That was all it took.

Neo turned around, wrapping her arms around Jaune's neck, burying her face in his shoulder as all her anger and rage came out, sobs racking her body as a strange, powerful noise resonated from her throat. One that sent chills down Jaune's spine. It was a sound of pure, primal rage. She didn't need words to convey it, the sound alone was enough to stop him dead in his tracks. He could feel the hatred, the betrayal… and beneath all that, the fear. She was afraid. Jaune just wrapped his arms tighter, leaning in, whispering meaningless words into her ear. That was another thing about his gift. Sometimes, the words didn't matter. Sometimes, it was just the feeling that came with them. Right now, he was whispering calm into her ear.

After a few minutes Neo sat back, leaning over on Jaune's knee as she looked up, pink eyes sparkling in the dim light, wet crystals shining at Jaune. He smiled at her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You know, I learned that as captain, sometimes a soft heart is better than a steel one. If you want to have a heart of steel Neo, around everyone else, that's fine. But…" he sighed, "I want you to know, that if you ever need to let your heart go soft again… I'm here. Okay?" he said. Neo just smiled, nodding at Jaune as she leaned over, hugging him. Jaune hugged back, smiling down at the smaller girl in his lap… wait….

Jaune's face burned bright red as the memory of where he was came flooding back, his eyes darting to the back of Neo's head as she leaned back too, her face burning when she looked down. "We should… go to bed now. I'll uh… I'll see in the morning." Jaune said, nearly darting up as Neo fell back, falling flat against the desk, her head hitting against Jaune's hat. She looked up, Jaune looking down and blushing even brighter, quickly looking away from Neo and dashing to the bed, crawling beneath the covers, and pulling them over his boiling face. "G-Goodnight!" he said quickly, shutting his eyes as he tried to get the image of Neo, splayed out on his desk, her pink panties showing beneath her nightgown, out of his head… it wasn't working.

Neo, in the meantime, just sat up, brushing the bits of lettuce off the back of her nightgown as she pushed her chair back towards the side of the room, sitting down and curling into a ball, shutting her eyes as she tried desperately to sleep. Despite that, the image of the captain just kept coming back at her, no matter how hard she tried. She opened her eyes, just staring forward, letting the slight creaking and rocking of the ship slowly lull her into a strange sense, where she would be both asleep and awake. Eventually, through that state, her eyelids fell, exhausted from being open so long, and she started to sleep again.

"Pyrrha…"

Then she heard that. She opened her eyes, looking around, her head on a swivel as she searched for the source of the sound in the dark room. She heard it again, her eyes widening as she saw the captain tossing and turning, muttering the word every few seconds. She slowly stood, quietly slinking along the creaky floor until she was right next to Jaune. He was muttering words beneath his breath, a few rising to the surface. "Bastard." and "Pyrrha.", as well as, strangely "Taurus." being among them. He did this for awhile, a sweat breaking out on his forehead as Neo saw him start shaking. She leaned down, getting on her knees as she placed a hand over his. She found that, in his sleep, he gripped it like a viper, whimpering slightly.

"Shh…" Neo whispered, one of the few things being mute allowed her to do. She gently stroked the hands grasping hers with her other hand, finding that after a few seconds he started relaxing, his breath slowing, his tossing and turning stopping, his muscles relaxing. Maybe a minute or two later he had stopped entirely, only a peaceful, sleeping face showing on through. Neo smiled, " _Glad I could help you somehow._ " she thought to herself as she felt her own eyelids drooping. She didn't let go of Jaune's hand, not that she thought she could anyway, and just leaned her head down, laying it on the bed as she felt her eyes shut. One last thought going through her head,

" _I should've taken his offer with the bed._ "

 **(a/n- yeah, sorry this one's a little short… the irony that I'm saying this and this is 4,389 words is something else… oh well, normally they're longer. Maybe the next one** _ **will**_ **be longer (Also I've heard rumors and before anyone asks, I made this just after watching Episode 11 of Volume 5. So if Jaune's semblance has been revealed, I don't know it, since it hasn't been released on Youtube yet (my money's still on healing). Besides, no matter what his semblance is it'll probably stay the same in this anyway. That's enough ranting, see you guys in the next one!)**


	4. The first part without Jaune

Chapter four: Slaves, Cuties, and Insanity

"Get a move on!"

A man yelled, jerking on the chains in his hand as he glared back at the people behind him. The people behind him, being led by his chains, all gazed back. Some glaring angrily, some defiantly, some fearfully. There was only one thing they all had in common, and that was the animal traits on their bodies. Some had foxtails, some cat ears, some rabbit ears, some shark teeth. The man was leading them towards a large ship, one that, despite having no cannons of it's own, was guarded by four smaller frigates, each of them positively _loaded_ with cannons and other weaponry. The main ship was guarded by twelve men, all of them with muskets aimed towards the incoming faunus. There were eight more of them, four of them holding muskets and standing at the ready on the shore, three rounding up the more 'desirable' faunus from their homes, and the last one guiding them onto the ship.

One of those faunus that was being pulled away fell to the ground, sobbing as she rolled in the sand, clutching her stomach. One of them men gritted his teeth, walking over towards her. "Oi! Get up! Come on! Move it!" he shouted, pulling the young girl up by her long, rabbit ears, jerking her towards the line. " _NID! NID!_ " the faunus yelled in her native tongue, struggling against the man's grip. She reached over, punching the man's armor covered stomach, to little avail.

It seemed to be a bad idea, since two seconds later he punched her right to the ground. Sand clung to the girls face as she looked around, eyes wide and terrified. She was so shocked she barely noticed the metal shackles being snapped on her wrists and ankles by the burly men. "Get on the ship." one of them said, jerking a hand behind him. The faunus looked at him blankly, for they didn't speak the strange language of these humans. They repeated it in a few languages, native Mistralean, Vacuo's tongue of Abakash, even Atlesian. Eventually though, they resorted to a language _everyone_ would understand. Jerking them forward and prodding their backs with muskets.

One of them reared back a hand, every inch of their skin turning red as they tried to punch forward. The men didn't let her, striking her kneecap before one punched her in the face. She was out the moment she hit the sand, her skin returning to it's normal, tanned appearance. "Bring the troublemakers on board first! Get the obedient one's down below!" a man yelled from above, shouting into a large cone he'd fashioned from a piece of metal. The faunus didn't know what he meant, but to the men, the order came _loud_ and clear. They took the unconscious, previously resisting chameleon, as well as the reluctant bunny, pulling them up towards the deck. The rest they lead down below, into the dark belly of the ship. Many of them would never see the light of day again, but many others. Oh, many others. They would be sent away to Atlas, Mistral, Vacuo, even to Vale's black market. They would be sent there to work. To pleasure. To do whatever was requested of them. A word became clear to the young rabbit faunus when she saw where the men took her family, a word she knew all too well.

"Slavers."

"Oh? You speak our language bunny girl?" the man asked, pulling the girl's chains closer to him. The girl shook her head, just repeating the world slavers, as well as 'slave' and 'slaves' over and over again. It was clear it was the only word she knew. The man frowned, looking down at the unconscious chameleon faunus, then back at the rabbit. "Take these two to the brig, strip them down and have them begging for mercy." he said, looking towards one of his other men. Velvet, the rabbit faunus, couldn't understand the men, but her face paled as she looked at them. Their expressions… they were cruel and dark, of hatred and desire. She'd seen that expression before, and every time she did, it didn't end well. Velvet was jerked from her thoughts, and from her place, her and the unconscious chameleon faunus pulled towards the lower decks.

Deeper and deeper they went, into the belly of the beast. They passed by their friends and family, being forced into small spaces and rooms, laid down and unable to move more than a few inches. Some were already bleeding, and those with shark instincts were clearly fighting with themselves not to attack something. Most likely it would be the armed men in front of them. Velvet couldn't look long, since soon she was taken even further into the bowels of the ship, until eventually she felt the familiar cold of seawater on her feet. The man jerked her forward, past a multitude of cages around her, all of them with doors open, some with skeletons still attached within them. They splashed through the water until she saw something a bit odd. It was a large room made into the side, completely sealed off with a large door. The man pulled it open, revealing a large mass of seawater coming out, as well as a few fish. It made no sense to Velvet, why was this here? What purpose did it serve?

The man unlocked Velvet's shackles, pulling her into said room. Inside was revealed to be a platform in the center of the room, beneath that? Seawater. A direct portal into the ocean. Velvet was contemplating jumping in when the man forced her ahead of him, reaching down and pulling another pair of shackles from the sealing. He locked them on her wrists, leaving her on her tiptoes if she didn't want to dangle from the roof. "Maybe a little water might cool you off." the man said, smirking at her as he reached up, taking his knife and, with much protest from the bunny girl, cutting a line down Velvet's brown dress, leaving her with a bloody line down her back, the dress falling in the water. Then he turned away, shutting and locking the door behind him, leaving Velvet alone in the room. She looked around, trying to think of a way out, when she felt the ship lurch. She looked down, her eyes widening as she saw the water rising, splashing her feet and slowly getting higher as she realized why the man had purposefully cut her.

She was being fed to the sharks.

Meanwhile, the man took the other faunus, still unconscious, and slammed her against the nearby wall, shackling her arms to it. She fell against them, the cuffs digging into her wrists as the man reached up. He grabbed two fistfuls of the girls brown dress, tearing it off her body and tossing it to the wooden bow. He smirked, cracking his knuckles, "You're a cute one too. Hehe, this'll be _fun_." he said, grabbing his knife. He made two cuts right beneath her eyes, then proceeded to mark her stomach and breasts with similar cuts. Just enough to get her bleeding, but not enough to be fatal. He let his hands wander, feeling every inch of his captive as he felt his own heart racing. " _She's purebred… means she'll be expensive._ " he said, sitting down on a nearby crate. He'd torture her, soon. No point in torturing someone if they couldn't feel it.

" _Lig! Vos_ **(a/n- this actually translates as both 'able' and 'let'... it means 'let' in this context)** _zey tir!_ "

The shouts from Velvet were all but ignored by the slaver outside, who was sitting there, patiently waiting for the cat faunus girl to wake up. Velvet felt tears running down her eyes as she looked down. The water was up to her waist now, and still it was slowly rising. She didn't know how it was doing this, she'd never seen a ship with anything even _remotely_ similar to this. " _Think Velvet! Think!_ " she shouted at herself, renewing her struggles. Then, as soon as she started, she froze, her eyes widening, face paling as she looked down. She saw a gray fin, just poking up from out of the water. A small shark, but enough to cause the faunus to freeze. " _Okay, just stay calm… sharks like fish in distress. DON'T. MOVE. Maybe it'll lose interest._ " she thought.

It didn't lose interest. It kept circling her. The water kept getting higher. Velvet felt herself floating up slightly as she reached up, taking a breath near the roof before going under, fighting through the stinging in her eyes as she looked around. She shark was small and gray, just barely two feet long. It looked like a baby almost, barely out of it's mother's belly. Velvet looked down, finding that there was what looked to be a small hole, maybe six feet wide at most. Beyond it, she thought she could just see the ocean floor. She leaned, taking a deep breath before she went under, moving around and placing her feet on the ceiling, pulling hard against the shackles that bound her. She didn't know -or care- how long she'd been in that cell. She needed _out_. She kept struggling, her lungs burning as she looked up. Her heart spiked as she saw the shark turn towards her, jagged motions coming at her. She knew those motions. The way of a shark ready to attack.

It never got the chance. Velvet heard a strange, clicking noise as she looked up, her eyes widening as she saw a dolphin squeeze through the hole, approaching the shark. The shark didn't seem deterred, rushing at the dolphin. Only the Dolphin was larger, slamming it's nose down on the sharks back as it passed, nearly hitting Velvet with it's tail. It kept hitting and clicking at the shark until it retreated, swimming out of the hole as Velvet heard more clicking. There must've been a whole _pod_ of dolphins outside. The dolphin turned to her as Velvet went back to her struggling, pulling uselessly against the chains. The dolphin came closer, causing Velvet to raise an eyebrow. That is, until it turned around, facing right at her. Her eyes widened as she saw what it was doing, motioning with it's fins.

She complied, moving her legs around and wrapping around the dolphin. It started moving it's tail _furiously_ as Velvet struggled not to scream, her arms feeling as if they were being stretched out. She looked up, smiling as she pulled as well. She saw the shackles weren't coming off, but the ceiling _above_ them was nearly torn to pieces, cracks forming in the walls. She pulled and tugged with the dolphin until at last she felt herself coming loose, letting got with her legs as she dolphin flew forward, right out of the hole. She swam up. "GAH!" she nearly shouted, gasping for air for a few seconds. She heard the sounds of footsteps running towards her as she looked over, her face paling as she saw the same slaver from before aiming a gun at her.

She ducked into the water, down was her only option. She couldn't, she _wouldn't_ be a slave. Never again. _Never_. _Again_. She heard the soft pinging, a streak of bubbles through the water next to her as she made a mad dash for the exit, her small frame allowing her to easily slip out through the hole in the bottom of the ship. She looked around, smiling as she saw dolphins moving around her, nudging against her. She swam up, gasping as she broke the surface. She looked around, the ship was right next to her, slowly floating away in the breeze and the waves. She rode the calm waters for a second before she looked around. Her island was nowhere to be seen. How long had she been in there? Hours? Minutes? How fast was the ship?

She was drawn from her thoughts by a feeling next to her. She looked over, seeing the dolphins surfacing, surrounding her. She looked down, smiling at the dolphin that had saved her. She could see a faint scar beneath it's right eye, the one reason she could recognize it. " _Nox hi._ " she said, leaning against the dolphin. She heard the dolphins clicks, and she was almost _sure_ it was saying 'you're welcome'. She felt the dolphin slowly moving, drifting through the water away from the ship. Velvet just moved around, wrapping her legs around the dolphin, keeping her shackles off of it. The metal might hurt it, and she did _not_ want to hurt the kindly dolphin that had saved her. She leaned her head against the dolphin's side, turning around slightly so that her head was facing the sky. " _I wonder where my parents are right now?_ " she thought. **(a/n- I figured I'd translate faunus** _ **thoughts**_ **for you guys at least.)**

…

"Ugh! Harder Miltia! Harder~"

" _Aaaaand that's my cue to leave._ " Ruby thought as she stood, walking over to her dresser and pulling out her nightgown. It was a simple think, long and made of dark red silk. Her cloak went over it of course. She took the pale of water Yang left her earlier, sticking a finger in it. " _Salt water_." she thought as she reached down, taking it in her hands and rubbing her face with it. She felt the mistral-whore disguise coming off her as she looked up, smiling at her reflection in the mirror. "Hello deadliest woman ali- actually no… no that's Yang… that's not me." she muttered, pouting slightly at her reflection. She was a good marksman sure, not half-bad of a killer. Though Yang… Yang… well, Yang was _Yang_. You messed with her, it could be described in three words.

You

Are

 **DEAD**.

She frowned down at Zwei, her adorable little puppy still sleeping in his dog bed. " _You're lucky, you're not embarrassed by Yang and the twins._ " she thought, grabbing her pistol. It was just her rule of thumb to always carry at least _one_ gun on her at all times. Her uncle had taught her that, and he was _rarely_ wrong. Unless… well, yeah, unless he was drunk. Ruby walked past her sisters door, trying (and failing) to hear the moaning, the slapping of skin-on-skin, the cracking of a whip and the snapping of rope. She didn't know what Yang did in there. She didn't _want_ to know what Yang did in there. _Ever_. So, naturally, whenever it was one of _those_ nights for Yang and the twins, she'd go to sleep somewhere else. The crows nest, one of the other crew men's cabins, once even in the brig… that hadn't been a good idea. Hey, she was good at _killing_ _people_ … in other areas of intelligence, _maybe_ not as much.

She walked down the stairs, heading for the lower decks. After a few flights she stopped, hitting _exactly_ where she wanted to be. Located near the center of the ship, two flights down from where Yang and the twins would get it on, and with _just_ the right amount of hot and cold from the ocean. She smiled as she walked over, opening the door. She didn't bother to knock, the owner of the cabin was likely expecting her. Of course, the second she walked in, she heard the familiar question. "Twins night or nightmare?" "Twins night." Ruby quickly replied with a pout, walking in and shutting the door behind her. She looked up, smiling at the woman laying down on the bed. The woman had two different colored eyes, one a sort of grayish-blue, and the other? Bright, _bright_ green. If you believed her, that was because of her semblance. Both her eyes were initially green, but then when she unlocked her aura, found her semblance, it changed. Kind of like Yang's hair.

She was dressed in a simple pair of underwear, dark red ones that fit quite well with her slim figure. She was spread out on the bed, her hands behind her head as she smiled at young Ruby. It wasn't the first time Ruby had come to her cabin -not even _close_ \- but it was always nice to see the bubbly young assassin. Being the 'diplomat' for Yang didn't come without it's drawbacks. Namely, she wasn't allowed to let _anyone_ know what she looked like. Meaning she couldn't go on raids, she couldn't be seen hanging around with any of the more well known crewmembers, and most often she just spent her time down here, cleaning her guns purely out of professional pride. She hadn't actually fired a round in _months_. The only time she even _went_ to the deck of the ship was to translate. Being fluent in the four major languages used in the kingdoms, as well as most of the different tribal languages _did_ have it's advantages.

Though, she had to admit, it got lonely being down here all the time. Which is why, though she felt _horribly_ guilty about it, she was glad when Ruby had a nightmare. It meant she'd at _least_ have someone down here to talk to other than the rats. "Yeah… sometimes I could sleep through it but, I think one of them brought out a whip. There was a lot of cracking." Ruby said, feeling her face tinge red at the thought of… no… noooo… no! Don't think about it! May Zedong looked up at Ruby, moving over and leaning back against the wall, making room on the bed. "You want the bed or-" "Snuggles!" Ruby said, smiling brightly at the older woman. May only raised an eyebrow, _totally_ not knowing what Ruby was talking about. (Truth be told, she really just wanted to hear the adorable girl beg her for it).

Ruby frowned at May's confused look, that frown turning into a pout as May stood, standing slightly over the younger girl. Ruby got on her knees, pressing her face into May's belly. "Please?" she asked, the sound muffled by May's nightgown. May had to struggle to keep from snatching the girl up and pulling her to the bed, cuddling with her right then and there. Though she _did_ let a triumphant smile free from her ironclad will. Ruby pulled back, pouting up at the girl. "May…" "Come on Ruby… do the thing." she said, smiling down at the girl. Ruby looked away, pouting at the ground.

"No."

"Ruby…"

"Noooo…"

"Ruby."

"Do I have to? Can't we just snuggles?" (it was _very_ hard for May not to take her up on her offer with that one.)

"How about you 'snuggles' with my pillow while I sleep in the chair?"

"... okay."

Ruby quickly stripped off her nightgown, revealing the light-red underwear she wore beneath it. Now, doing 'the thing' didn't really _require_ Ruby to strip, but at the same time, it didn't feel _right_ to her to do the thing with her nightgown on. May sat on the bed as Ruby crawled up, curling herself as small as she could, sitting on May's lap. She shut her eyes for a second, plopping her thumb into her mouth and leaning against May's shoulder. Then she looked up, taking her thumb out and looking up at her with big, innocent silver eyes. "Mama? Wuby wants snuggles! Wubys wants mama!" she said, pouting up at May. May held out… for about two seconds. Then she quickly took the girl in her arms, pulling her down and pressing her against her chest, pulling the covers over them as she snuggled close to the little girl.

"That's my little Rub-Rub. Hungry?" "Wuby Hun-gee mama!" Ruby said, pouting up at me. She wasn't even lying, she _was_ somewhat hungry. In her experience, going to bed hungry was _usually_ a bad idea. May smiled, reaching beneath her pillow and taking out a cookie. Now, most would question the sanitary, and sanity, of placing a cookie directly inside a pillow case. Though, Ruby knew May had made it fresh. That and, even if it wasn't, she'd still probably eat it. "NOM!" she said, taking a small bite into the cookie, nibbling on it for a second with her eyes closed before separating it, swallowing. She smiled, leave it to May to make the best cookies in Remnant. This went on for quite awhile, Ruby unnecessarily nibbling on the cookie to make herself look cute, May fawning over the adorable girl, until at last Ruby's tongue struck against May's fingers. She moved her tongue around them for a second, determined to get as much flavor from May's cooking as possible, before leaning back.

May reached up, patting Ruby on the back a few times. The girl let out a cute burp, her eyes drooping slightly as May leaned back. May kissed Ruby on the forehead, gently stroking the younger girls hair as she snuggled up against her chest, wrapping her arms around her "mama's" belly. Ruby smiled, letting out a little sigh of content as she felt her thoughts start running together. She didn't mind it really, being May's little baby. Not only did she sort of like pulling the whole cute little girl act, she also 1. Got one of May's cookies for free, and 2. Got to snuggle up with May. Sometimes Yang and the twins wouldn't even be going at it and she _still_ would come down here. Sometimes a nightmare, sometimes because she felt bad for May, but most of the time just because she wanted to feel _someone_ next to her. Zwei was a great dog, with warm fur and an _adorable_ face, but he just couldn't replace the feeling of someone beside her. "Goodnight my little Rub-Ruby~" May said. Ruby smiled.

"Nighty night mama."

…

"You guys hear that?"

A young man asked, looking around, raising an eyebrow. He, along with three other young men, were stationed at one of Vale's more recent acquisitions of territory, the island of _Dinok_ , as the locals called it. The people in Vale simply called it 'death isle', due to the sheer number of shipwrecks that kept happening near it. The tribals would say that it was due to the evil spirits that walked among the trees. Though, to the young man, it was more than likely the _ridiculous_ amount of rocks and reefs that lay near the island. They would cut all but the thickest hulls into shreds within seconds. Thankfully for him, he had arrived on a ship with some of _the_ thickest hull available. His companions looked towards him, the brown haired leader of the expedition, as well as his commander, nodded. He reached down, grabbing his musket, pulling on his metal helmet. "I hear it… weapons ready." he said.

The other two, a gray haired man and a man with light green hair all grabbed their muskets, looking around cautiously. The first young man, a tan haired boy in armor similar to his companions, grabbed his pistols, looking out among the treeline. He heard the sound again, the sound of something scurrying through the grass and the trees. "Sir… fog rolling in." Sky Lark said, looking towards the commander, Cardin Winchester. Said commander slowly nodded, aiming towards the treeline and taking a knee. "Damn this island and it's constant fog… alright, we need to make sure the armaments are secure. Sky and me will handle that. Dove and Russel, try and find what's stalking us, and whatever you do, _stay, together_. I don't want one of you getting lost in this mess." he said, glaring towards the two. They both saluted before the commander turned away, leaving Dove and Russel to search the camp.

"What're the odds it's a faunus we didn't clear out?" Russel asked, smirking slightly as he drew his sword, faint red on the end of the blade making it evident what he'd been using it for recently. Dove kept his pistols on hand, slowly cocking both of them. In the silence of the night, the sound seemed almost as loud as if he were to have shot them. "Think we'll find a faunus? Hope it's a girl, nice and big girl this time. Not like those skin and bones ones we found earlier. Might make me a little meal out here~" "Russel just… just stop. You haven't seen a girl in six months, none of us have. You can't just-"

 **BANG!**

The two of them turned around, aiming their guns in the general direction of the shot. Strangest thing was, it wasn't from the woods behind them, where they'd think it would be. It came from the direction where Cardin and Sky had gone. Russel and Dove looked at one another for only a second before both dashed towards them, heading for the armaments tent. They skidded to a halt when they got there, looking around. They saw Sky and Cardin both aiming their rifles around, both searching for something in the fog. "Sir?" Dove asked, Cardin spinning around to face him. He had a look in his eye Dove could never forget. The sheer fear that was held within him… it was beyond anything Dove could ever imagine.

"Ehehehe~"

The four men turned around, aiming towards the woods, but all relaxed slightly when they saw a girl walking towards them. It would be more accurate to say it was a young woman, her eyes yellow glow piercing through the fog, her slight smile serving to attract the young Russel to take a few steps closer. She had long, black hair, flowing down to her shoulders, right over her brown tribal garments. She didn't say a word, only smiling and waving at them. Dove relaxed, "Oh… just a faunus girl…" "No… if she _is_ just a faunus girl, she'd have been scared by the gunshot." Cardin said, aiming towards the girl still. Dove looked and, Cardin was right. The girl stood there with no fear, despite the two muskets and three pistols (Russel carried one along with his saber) aimed at her.

Russel slowly started walking over, his gaze suspicious and, for _obvious_ reasons in Dove's eyes, hungry. His gaze traveled down the girl before he got close, slowly moving his hand forward. She lightly stepped back, flexing her index finger towards the young man and giving him a soft smile, her eyes twinkling. Russel smirked, sheathing his saber and walking with the girl towards the edge of the woods. The other three followed, Dove turning around and making sure that no one was following them, about to strike them all dead from behind. The four of them kept this up, walking deeper away from the camp, until Cardin spoke up. "Russel, we're not letting that _thing_ lead us further into the woods. Come on, let's head back to camp." "Fine, guess here's as good a spot as any." Russel said, smirking as he lunged at the girl. Dove turned, his eyes wide as he saw what the girl did.

She disappeared.

"You think you can come into _my_ forest? Into _my_ home?! _Sahlos_."

The four scrambled away from her, heading back towards the camp. Dove looked around, his eyes widening when he saw the girl dashing towards him, the look of murder on her face. He quickly fired a round at her, only for the girl to vanish, a scream piercing the air. He heard more gunshots, more screaming. Then he felt the pain in his shoulder, and he fell, clutching a bleeding bullet wound. "STOP! STOP! SHE'S NOT REAL! YOU'RE JUST SHOOTING EACH OTHER!" Cardin yelled, stepping into plain view. He stood there, looking over and frowning towards Sky… well, what was _left_ of Sky. His body was intact, his face… not so much. Torn apart by one of the stray bullets no doubt. Cardin started walking towards Dove, drawing his gun.

That was as far as he got.

Cardin fell a second later, not by a bullet, but rather an _arrow_ to his throat. He fell back, and as Dove stood, he saw the woman walking forward, smirking towards him. " _Nikriin._ " she said. Dove didn't hesitate, aiming right at her head and firing. _Clearly_ he hadn't been paying that much attention to what that had accomplished so far, since the only thing he _hit_ , was Russel. Russel was dead thanks to Dove's bullet, and now Dove scrambled to reload his guns. That is, until he felt the arrow pierce the back of his knee, the _one_ spot his armor was weakest. "GAH!" he yelled, falling down and quickly jerking the arrow from his knee. He started crawling towards the camp, terror flooding his body as he forgot about his unloaded guns, forgot about the saber at his hip. Right now, he wanted to _run_. _FAST_. Or, since that was out of the question, _crawl_. _FAST_.

"You think yourselves so clever. _Pahlokaal_. How clever to kill your own brothers." The same voice that was narrating from the swamp said. They were glaring down at the injured Dove Bronzewing beneath them, holding a spear in their other hand. Dove flipped himself over, hoping to at least _see_ his killer, and he did. What he saw before him was a young faunus woman, just like the illusions he'd thus far seen. The difference was, the illusions weren't completely naked and holding a spear. "You have seen my body, let it be your last image." she said Suddenly everything went dark as he felt searing pain on his eyes. He cried out, trying to move, but suddenly he felt a heavy weight on him, pressing into his armor, keeping him still. He could only picture the naked faunus as the one on top of him. She'd struck him blind.

He felt his armor being pulled off, the loud clanging no doubt sounds of it being tossed away. He felt his tunic ripped to pieces, his bare body exposed. He gulped. He had no armor, no protection. He didn't have his cutlass or guns, and what use were they when he couldn't even see? He just had to sit there, waiting for what the faunus would do to him and _pray_ she was merciful. "GAH! PLEASE! STAHAHAP!" he yelled, sobbing through the pain. He could pray all he wanted, but when it came to the people that took _everything_ from her, Blake Belladonna was _far_ from merciful. She took her spear, slamming it through one shoulder, pinning him to the ground. Then she grabbed another spear she'd left nearby, slamming it into his other shoulder. He begged for mercy, but Blake could only see red as she took out her knife, carving into his chest. She then carved into his stomach, a number.

B-E-L-L-A-D-O-N-N-A

49

Blake sat up, stabbing the man's windpipe with her blade, right through his throat. She didn't take it out, just watching as her lips twisted up in a grin, into a sort of sick pleasure as she watched blood start flowing around the knife, up through his mouth. She leaned over, roughly kissing the poor boy, lapping at the blood in his mouth. She tasted iron as she bit down, twisting her head back. "UUUUGH!" the man yelled, no longer capable of much more. What more could one say with blood in their mouth and no tongue to speak with? She stood, taking her knife from the boys mouth as she saw his blood come gushing out, flowing over his chest as Blake felt her breath quicken. She sat on his chest, her bare behind on his stomach where she'd carved the 49. The reached forward, letting the blood pool in her hands before she slapped it onto her, gently running her bloody hands down her body, lathering her breasts and running her hands down to her thighs.

"More~" she said, taking more and more blood, running it over her tender flesh as she let out a loud moan, feeling his blood slipping as she leaned down. She started gulping at his neck, draining his blood like a tick at an all you can eat buffet. When she pulled back, she pouted, but then immediately smiled. "Ehehehe," it started as a giggling, "Ahahahaaha!" then went to laughter, " AHAHAAAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAH! OH _JIIK_! OH _SOS_! ALL FOR ME AHAHAHAHA!" … aaaand then went to _that_. Blake stood after a second, running her bloody fingers through her hair as she threw back her head, laughing at the sky itself, her face cracking into a crazy smile, her eyes wide. She leaned down, taking the man's torn tunic, soaking it in his blood on the ground. Then she slammed it over her face, deeply breathing in as she felt her body quivering. She could feel it the heat building in her, she could _feel_ the madness and blood and desire creating pressure within her. A pressure that needed to be emptied. "No… not yet." she said, her mad eyes gazing at the other men, most notable the one that tried to rape her.

"I'm _just_ getting started~"

 **(a/n- Well… yeah, I feel I should clarify that Yang is** _ **part**_ **of the reason this is rated M… this is the other part. I'll say it right now, yes, Blake is bleeding insanity from her eyeballs, a killer, and probably the most OOC thing you'll ever find about her character. Is this out of character? Obviously (I** _ **just**_ **said it was). Is there an explanation for it? Quite possibly (no spoilers yet). Would Monty Oum (respect) be turning in his grave if he could read this? Quite possibly. Am I going to change the character because I'm afraid of backlash? Well… if you're actually reading this, the answer is no. Is insane Blake more or less attractive than regular Blake? Well… that's up to you guys I guess. Anyway, we got some slave treatment of Velvet and Ilia, some cute Ruby with some May, and some previously mentioned insane Blake. Guess I'll see you in the next one… as I wait for a critique about this no doubt being typed as I speak. (hey, you don't like insane Blake? Maybe find a different story or just** **... you know, ignore her?** **Just sayin'))**


	5. Mistraleans speak Italian apparently

Chapter five: The raid

"Neo?"

Neopolitan slowly opened her eyes, letting out a quiet groan as she sat up, lightly rubbing at her neck. She felt like she twisted it the wrong way or something, it was so _stiff_. She looked around for the source of the voice, trying to figure out where it had come from. "Neo, over here." she heard the familiar voice of the captain say. She turned, standing up and stepping away from the bed as the captain sat up, rubbing his eyes before he smiled at her. He stood, reaching down and pulling up the same clothes he had from the previous day, right before grabbing his coat from the hook on the wall and slipping it over him, pulling it down so it fit better over his frame. He walked past Neo, taking his pistols (as well as cutlass) and holstering them, slapping his hat on his head.

"I'll… oh no… I'll be going to see Appi! Comemeetmeonthemaindeckwhenyou'rereadyokayBYE!"

He shouted quickly as he dashed out the door, the thumping footsteps slowly growing quieter down the hallway. Neo raised an eyebrow, her eyes flashing brown, " _Wonder what that was about?_ " she thought. Why was he going to see Appi? Why was he holding his stomach? Was he hurt in some way and Appi could heal him? He _did_ say Appi was a healer after all. Neo just shrugged, going back to pulling off her nightgown and slipping on the clothes from the day before, laying her gown in her chair as she -with no small bit of effort- pulled it back into it's proper place.

Meanwhile, Jaune Arc was in _hell_.

With the effects of Appi's semblance wearing off, he felt his oldest, most dangerous adversary creeping back up on him, ready to make him spill whatever the last thing he'd eaten was onto either the floor or into the ocean, depending on where he was. He stumbled as he felt his head start spinning, one hand flying to his mouth, the other to the wall. He looked up, slowly walking towards the familiar door Appi had taken up residence in. That was, until he felt someone spin him around. He was about to spill his guts out when he felt someone claim his lips, slamming him against the wall as another hand trailed down his back, the familiar dark skinned, orange eyed faunus, her face decorated with the dark green slashes of war pant. Her eyes turned a glowing green color as Jaune felt the urge to vomit slowly disappearing.

Appi took it a step further as Jaune felt her tongue run into his, running over it as he felt a shiver run down his spine. She did the same thing every time, make something that should have been at least _remotely_ okay into something dirty and sexual. Of course, that was Appi for you. When she pulled back, a string of green saliva connecting the two, she was panting, smirking at the also panting Jaune. "Want to continue this? Rock the boat a little more~" "Appi… you know my answer." Jaune said, glaring at Appi as he felt his face burning bright red at her suggestion. Of course she knew his answer, that's why she _asked_. She knew he was too pure (ironically so for a pirate) to ever have sex with someone he wasn't married to. " _Of course if he asks… well, who am I to defy my captain?~_ " she thought as she cupped Jaune's chin.

She walked around him, guiding him slightly as she walked towards her cabin, thankful that she hadn't gotten the chance to get back to her cabin to put her clothes on yet. She walked forward, smirking as she saw Jaune cover his eyes at the sight of her bare behind. "So innocent… I'll be like this on your desk later. What happens next, is up to you.~" she said, smirking as she walked into her cabin, shutting the door behind her as she went to grab her clothes for the day. It was no secret to the crew that Appi didn't particularly _like_ wearing clothes when she didn't have to. Jaune and Pyrrha had both made her wear them during the day, but at night? She could walk around with just a scrap of paper and no one would bat an eyelash.

No, they'd just stare. Except for Jaune.

Speaking of, the _incredibly_ embarrassed youth peaked through his fingers, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw that Appi wasn't standing naked in front of him anymore. " _Why does she only go after me? Literally ANY guy on this ship would gladly screw her brains out… hell maybe even some of the girls too. Why she picks the ONE GUY that won't… if I wasn't so scared of her (and didn't need her as much for my motion-sickness) I'd have gotten rid of her a LONG time ago._ " he thought as he turned away, walking out towards the deck. He shut his eye for a second, letting his eye adjust to the light as he slipped his eyepatch over his left one. He saw the crew milling about, getting ready for the day. He turned around, seeing no one at the helm. He walked over, grabbing the wheel as he heard the familiar voice.

"Where to Captain!?" he heard the cheery voice of the ship's navigator say. He looked over, giving a brief smile to the young woman who sat nearby. Two brilliant green eyes gazed back at him with a strange inner joy Jaune found rather refreshing compared to the darker and less pure outlooks of most of his crew. Her hair was mostly hidden beneath a bright pink bandana, the rest coming down to her chin, curly and orange. Her skin was pale white with two patches of freckles right beneath her eyes, both her cheeks tinted a light red… more or less all the time. Jaune never asked why, he just kind of accepted it. Likely they were the reason he didn't question Neo's eyes when she showed up. She was clad in a pair of light gray pants, a black belt with a silver buckle keeping them up. Her shoes were black and had the same kind of buckle, making one contemplate if they were made from the same hide and the same metal vein.

"Plot a course for Atlas, avoid the waters around death isle, I don't intend on being hunted today." Jaune said, feeling a shiver run down his spine despite the heat. He knew the rumors of death isle, and he was _not_ in the mood to find out the amount of truth they held in them. The young navigator, Penny, saluted, "Aye aye!" she shouted before dashing down the stairs, into the small area with her maps right beneath Jaune's feet. The moment she walked in she would pour over her maps, calculating distances and times for a few minutes before dashing back and reporting the course to the captain. Jaune had his plan laid out for the day. Start sailing for Atlas and intercept a large galleon **(** **a/n- it actually IS a galleon this time, I swear.)** carrying supplies for Mistral in a few days time.

It seemed none of that would be happening though.

"Cap'n," Duni yelled, looking down from the crow's nest. "merchant ship to the north! It's flyin' Atlas colors!" he yelled. Jaune felt his lips tug up in a smile. Mistral may have been the ones that cast him out, but _Atlas_ … oh, he had a bone to pick with those racist bastards. "Understood!" he yelled, spinning the wheel slightly, aiming straight for the small dot on the horizon, no doubt the ship Duni was talking about. Penny came tumbling out of the cabin, looking up towards her captain. "Why are we changing courses!?" "We've got a new target!" Jaune yelled, the crew taking notice and running towards the cannons, ready for a fight just in case.

Meanwhile, Neo walked onto the main deck, covering her eyes for a few seconds before she walked up the stairs, seeing Jaune barking orders at the crew. They all scrambled to comply, everyone preparing for the inevitable attack. "Neo! Head to the armory and grab a weapon! We're getting ready for a raid!" Jaune shouted. Neo, of course, knew where the armory was, being as Jaune had taken her on a tour of the ship when she first arrived. Though, it wasn't ignorance that kept Neo frozen in place, watching the crew running around her and towards the lower decks. It was _fear_. She'd been on the royal family's galleon when it was attacked only once, and even then her job was just to hide with the youngest child. She'd never _fought_ anyone! What was she supposed to do!?

She felt a shove on her back as she looked up, seeing Appi glaring down at her. " _BO_ child! Prepare for _vukein_! GO! GO!" she shouted, shoving Neo back into the underbelly of the ship, the door slamming behind her. Neo, with nothing else to do and combat rapidly approaching, ran towards the armory. The second she burst through the door, her eyes widened at the _vast_ expanses of weapons surrounding her. Cutlasses, tomahawks, bows and arrows, muskets, flintlock pistols, daggers, you name it, it seemed to be there. She walked around, gently picking up weapons, holding them out… well, the one's she _could_ hold anyway. Half of them she picked up were too heavy for her, and she could just barely even _lift_ them. She kept walking around, her eyes widening a bit as one weapon stood out to her.

That weapon was made of a bright steel, one that shined even in the relative darkness of the ships interior. It appeared to be a normal blade, but shorter and a bit thinner, honed to a shaper edge. The handle curved down into what looked to be a hook, a sheath nearby appearing to be a simple, long cylinder of leather and wood. Neo walked over, wrapping her fingers around the handle. She experimentally lifted it, tossing it from one hand to the other. It was light. It was made for either hand. It felt… right. She experimentally swung it forward, the blade cutting through the very _air_ as she spun around, smiling. " _It's so light… almost like an extension of my arm._ " she thought as she sheathed the blade, about to clip it onto her belt. Though when she tried, she frowned, finding that the two sheaths made for daggers on her belt made that rather difficult.

She looked over, grabbing a nearby set of twin daggers and setting them into the sheaths, not taking particular care to look at them, before she gripped the sheath near the hilt in one hand, dashing out towards the main deck. She ran through the halls past men all gathering weapons, muskets and cutlasses, even a few grabbing maces and war-axes. Granted, against guns, it didn't seem like it'd do much good. Neo burst out onto the main deck, waiting for her eyes to adjust as she saw the small ship getting larger in the distance. They'd be upon it soon. She walked over to Jaune, finding his eyes were… different.

Gone was the compassionate soul she'd seen the night before, gone was the boy she could be herself with. Now, in those eyes, Neo saw a leader. She saw the steely determination, sharpened and honed by an unspeakable rage caged within his oceanic eyes. Eyes deep as the ocean, yet sharper than her sword. In his oceans there was a fire. Deep and primal and strong, burning and twinkling from within, as if in defiance of the oceans that had trapped it. Neo looked and knew that nothing could hold that fire. That that fire would spread and burn until it destroyed itself. She knew she'd seen something Jaune could never tell her. Something he never wanted her to see. She knew she'd seen the Arc the way he'd never wanted to be seen, and it had only taken a glance into his eyes.

A glance at an ocean of steel and fire.

He looked over at her, his gaze softening only slightly as he gave a little smile. "Ready? Well… let's hope you are, we're heading in one way or another." he said, trying to lighten the mood slightly as he looked off towards the merchant ship. It was getting closer, to the point that Jaune now no longer needed a spyglass to see the Atlesian banner flying on their sails. Just looking at it… _oh_ he would burn that banner the second he took the ship. He saw Appi approach from below deck -fully clothed thankfully- and walk up the side, sitting down nearby as she loaded her musket. She'd only fire one shot- it took too long to reload and fire another round anyway- before she'd toss the musket and draw her bullwhip.

"Cap'n! She's a turnin' broadside!" "Then we'll meet her head on! BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Jaune shouted, the crew ducking down beneath the edges of the ship as he too ducked slightly beneath the wheel, aiming the bow of the ship right down the center of the slightly larger trading vessel. The crew on board -you could see the white caps even in the distance- were scrambling to load the few canons they had, most ducking for cover or grabbing weapons as they saw The Cursed Arkos approach them. One of those men in white held up a saber, aiming it directly in the air, "Ready! Aim! FIRE!" He shouted, flexing the saber towards the oncoming ship.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Six explosions rang out, six large cannonballs zooming at the Arkos. Three of them hit the iron hull, simply pinging off. Two of them flew off to the side, lightly skirting the edge of the ship, but doing no real damage. The last one flew over the bow, landing and bouncing towards the center of the ship before rolling into the mast. All eyes were on it, bodies tense as they waited. They had a fifty-fifty chance as to what kind of cannonball it was… they waited… and waited… "Just a roller!" Jaune shouted, the crew letting out a sigh of relief that it wasn't explosive. Just in case though, Uni and Duni picked it up, dashing to the edge of the ship and tossing it overboard. Jaune looked ahead, reaching down and pulling out one of his pistols as he saw the ship growing ever closer. He looked back, smiling as he saw -and felt- a large swell from behind, propelling the ship forward. "PREPARE TO BOARD!"

CRASH!

The iron bow of the Arkos cut almost halfway through the Atlesian merchant ship, stopping only at the mast. The crew hopped up, most of them smirking as they aimed their pistols and rifles over the sides, firing at any of the crew that held a weapon or charged at them. Jaune flew from the wheel, him and Appi dashing towards the bow before vaulting over. Appi landed on all fours, dashing up and quick-firing a shot at an incoming guard before she drew her whip, stopping another guard that nearly buried his blade into Jaune's back in his track. Jaune spun around, aiming at said guard's head and firing without hesitation. He drew his other pistol, aiming it towards the cabin door as he drew his cutlass.

He dashed towards the door, kicking it down and waving his pistol around, making sure no one was about to shoot him. After a moment he walked in, switching his eyepatch and slowly walking through the corridors, keeping his eye peeled for anyone. Meanwhile, Neo stood frozen near the bow. She had jumped off, swept up by a wave of other pirates… but then she stilled. The way the men ran about, stabbing and shooting people with this apparent glee. They were murderers. Not the fake kind like Neo, they were _real_ murderers… and she'd be worthy of that assassin brand if she followed their example.

She would've been content to stay there, watching in horror as the resisting crew were absolutely _slaughtered_ , but it seemed that fate had other plans. A lone guard, standing tall with his pistol and cutlass, aimed right at Neo. Neo turned just in time for him to pull the trigger, a loud ping near her ear as she looked over. She'd been lucky the pistol wasn't that accurate. An inch to the right and she'd have been hit. She turned towards him, her eyes widening as she saw him rushing at her. She unsheathed her blade, a loud metal screeching hitting her as their blades collided. She looked up, freezing as she saw the man's eyes. She'd expected terror. She'd expected him to be fearful and wild-eyed. He wasn't. In his eyes was a look that scared her more than Ozpin at his angriest, more than anything she'd ever _seen_.

A look of pure, unadulterated… _hatred_.

He pulled away, swinging again and again as Neo did her best to block and dodge. The two's blades locked again as the man leaned over, nearly forcing Neo back over the edge. "Why don't you just give up and _die_ like the good little rat you are!?" the man yelled, forcing his blade down towards Neo's neck. Neo pushed back, kicking him away from her as she swung at his hand. The man staggered back, gripping his bleeding hand and dropping his blade and gun. Neo kicked him in the chest, kicking the gun and blade away. She aimed her blade towards his neck… but she hesitated. He was unarmed now… what more could he do? She sheathed her blade, keeping her eyes on him as she started turning away.

Though, it seemed the man had a different idea of what was happening. Rather than gripping his hand and accepting his defeat, he rushed straight at Neo, his vision red as he swung his arm back. Neo felt the wind fly from her chest as she bounced across the deck, her back hitting against the mast. She looked up, her eyes widening as the man stomped on her stomach. " _Why is he still fighting!? I gave you the choice! You could've walked away!"_ she thought as she felt him slamming his boot onto her stomach again and again. She felt tears sting her eyes, the taste of iron in her mouth as the man relented, if only for a moment. She could feel her aura working overtime to try and repair some of the damages, but it didn't help the pain.

"Why… aren't you… dead yet!" the man shouted, reaching down and drawing one of Neo's own daggers from her belt, rearing his hand back. To Neo, every second before a century. She could see the blade clear as day, heading straight for her heart. She felt her heart slow, her eyes widen, her mind clearing… she felt calm. Calmer than she had been in a long time. She held up her sheath, as slow as the dagger came towards her. She saw the dagger hit against the sheath, she felt the force behind it. She pushed off to the side, pulling the man over her. She saw the man's eyes widening as he was guided off to the right of the mast, carried by the dagger. " _It isn't enough…_ " Neo thought as she drew her other dagger. She lunged forward, watching in slow motion as she felt the resistance, the dagger going through his tunic. She saw the blood slowly dripping down the blade, coming faster and faster the closer the man got to the ground.

Neo let go, and time seemed to resume it's normal course, the man falling over onto her dagger, still clutching the other blade, now lying abandoned next to her sheath. Neo slowly stood, grabbing her blade as she -with a grunt of effort- flipped the man over. She saw his eyes gazing up at her, his hands slowly reaching up for the dagger in his chest. Neo felt numb as she walked over, tapping her own blade on the man's neck. She felt a flicker of hesitation… was she really about to do this? Neo took one last look at the man's eyes, and found that now they were filled with fear and shock, his eyes gazing up at her. "P-Please… have… mercy…" the man said, tears slowly falling from his eyes. Neo felt her face scrunch into a snarl as she sliced across the man's throat. She swung down again, wielding her blade like one of her kitchen knives as she started stabbing into him, over and over and over.

" _WHO ARE YOU TO ASK FOR MY MERCY!? YOU'D HAVE GLADLY KILLED ME JUST A SECOND AGO!"_ Neo shouted in her head, a guttural, animal screech flying from her mouth as she kept stabbing. She could feel the tears on her face, but right now, all she saw was red. She kept going, going and going, never once realizing that the man had stopped begging, had stopped moving. His hands had fallen to his sides, his eyes gazing unblinking at the sun above, his face forever set in that expression of fear. Neo didn't stop until she felt her arms become lead, every breath a struggle as she stabbed one last time into the man's chest, falling to her knees. She looked towards the ground, only now sensing the water falling down her chin, puddling on the ground, her heart pounding, her vision blurring. Sobs wracked her body, a deep and primal screech piercing the air every time she opened her mouth.

When she looked up again, Neo felt herself start shaking. She saw the blood seeping from the man's room, surrounding him, soaking into her pants. She slowly stood, gripping her dagger with a shaky hand, pulling it back into it's sheath. She grabbed the other one wordlessly, using her sheath as a makeshift walking cane. The pain she felt from the man's boot to her chest was there, but a dull, throbbing companion compared to the whirlwind of emotions that was in her head. She sheathed her main blade, slowly walking towards the edge of the ship. She didn't even think as she dropped her blade, grabbing the railing before vomiting over the edge, purging her stomach of everything she'd eaten the night before. She felt the images of the dead man just a few feet away flash in her head, her body forcing her to throw up everything in her stomach. When she opened her eyes, she just fell to the ground. She felt weak… it was hard to stand. Hard to move. She looked up, seeing a few clouds gather in the sky. " _I had to do it… it was him or me._ " she thought. She shut her eyes, sighing as she curled in on herself.

" _It was… him or me…_ "

 **Meanwhile**

Jaune dashed through the hallways of the ship, a destination in mind. He skidded to a halt on the wooden floor when he saw it, just a few feet away. It was the captain's quarters no doubt, the familiar artisan engravings around the frame proving that much. Jaune looked around, making sure no one was about to sneak up on him, before he drew his pistol, aiming at the door. "Jaune, wait!" he heard a voice say. He turned around, giving a slight smile as he saw Appi running towards him, a pistol she'd no doubt taken off a dead body in her hand. She walked over to the door, smiling slightly. "Shall we?" "Let's." Jaune said, moving back and aiming his pistol towards the door. Appi smirked, taking a few steps back before she charged the door, ramming it open with her shoulder. Jaune's eyes widened as he heard the gunshot, the bullet whistling past his ear. Though, that wasn't what drew his attention. _That_ was the shooter.

The shooter looked to be a girl around his age, with hair like a sunset, pulled upward into two large tails and, upon closer inspection, two smaller ones. Her bangs were cut short with light-blue streaks into them. Normally that would be strange, but given what was behind her, it didn't surprise Jaune or Appi in the slightest. A long, pink cat tail that grew lighter towards the tip. In her hands was the pistol she just shot, her body frozen as she saw that she'd missed. Appi wasted no time in drawing her bullwhip, wrapping it around the girl's hands and jerking her over to the two pirates. The girl grunted as she hit the wooden floor, her body seemingly frozen as Appi moved behind her, moving her whip around and tying up the girls legs as well as her hands, making sure she couldn't fight back.

BANG!

"AH!" "APPI!" Jaune yelled, drawing his other pistol and spinning around. This time he saw an old, white haired man. He was dressed in the typical atlesian captain's ware. Jaune didn't wait even a second, firing at the gun in the man's hand before rushing forward, slamming the butt of his pistol onto the captain's forehead. The older man crumbled, landing on the ground in a heap. Jaune started backing up, drawing his cutlass and aiming it towards the man as he slowly walked over towards Appi. When he was confident the man wouldn't get back up, he turned around, leaning down and placing a hand on Appi's shoulder. "Are you okay?" " _Draaf_ … don't worry, he only grazed my shoulder." Appi said, slowly standing up, pulling her cloak back slightly to reveal the bullet had managed to run right through one of her leather tribal greaves, hitting her skin. Though thankfully, it hadn't broken her aura. Probably didn't help the pain though…

Appi walked over to the captain, smirking as she grabbed the man's knife, holding it over her head. "APPI! You know the rules…" "We don't kill unless we have to…" she said, sighing before she stabbed the man's blade into the ground next to him. She stood, walking over towards the young, petrified faunus girl held by Appi's whip. Said girl looked up, her eyes wide and terrified as Jaune leaned down, nodding towards Appi. Appi returned it, knowing what that look meant. She untied the girl, coiling her whip back around and clipping it to her waist. The girl leaned back, lightly rubbing her wrists as she backed against the wall, looking fearfully between the two pirates.

" _Dreh hi mindoraan zey?_ Do you understand me?" Appi asked, figuring the girl either spoke her tongue or Valish. The girl looked to her, confusion plain in her eyes. Jaune threw a few signs towards her, thinking the girl may have been deaf. Nope, she didn't respond to those either. She just gazed at him, wondering why he was moving his hands that way. Appi raised an eyebrow at Jaune, "She… doesn't speak any of our tongues." "Hmm… _Ciao_ (hello)." Jaune said, pinning his hopes on the girls peaking the only other language he knew. That being native mistralean. The girl's eyes widened, " _Ciao_." she repeated. Jaune smiled, at the very least he could communicate with her. He stood, loading both his guns as Appi took the hint, reloading her musket. All the while the girl and Jaune spoke, Appi for once at a loss for what they were saying.

" _Da dove vieni?_ (Where do you come from?)" Jaune asked, giving an easy smile towards what he could only assume to be the captain's slave. The woman looked down at the ground, her eyebrows scrunched in thought. She tried to remember… " _Non ricordo_ … (I don't know…)" she said. Jaune frowned, unable to help himself from gritting his teeth. It seemed that so many of the slaves he came across had been slaves so long they couldn't even remember their birthplace because either they were taken from it while they were young, or they hadn't been there in so long. It _disgusted_ him. " _Qual è il tuo nome?_ (What's your name?)" "Neon Katt (Translator's note: Neon means Neon, Katt means Katt)"

Jaune nodded, " _Neon Katt huh… weird name._ " he thought as he heard footsteps outside the door. He and Appi shot up, spinning around to see the door open slowly. Out in front of them stepped the familiar, stock twins, both of them with identical smiles. "Ships been looted cap'n. Only ones lef' are surrenderin' or runnin'." Duni and Uni said in unison, keeping those same, some-teeth-missing smiles. Jaune nodded, giving a brief smile to them in return. The two already knew what that meant, running back towards the main deck to get everyone to gather back on the ship. " _Neon._ " " _Sì?_ (yes?)" she asked, looking back towards Jaune. Jaune held out his hand, the girl hesitating before taking it, standing up with him. Jaune looked up, finding himself to be only a few inches taller than she was.

" _Neon, sto dando una scelta. È possibile venire con me e Appi sulla Cursed Arkos, o potete prendere una delle imbarcazioni di salvataggio. Se ottieni sul Cursed Arkos, è possibile lasciare al porto successivo dobbiamo scendere a. O… è possibile unirsi a noi. Vivere come un pirata. La scelta è vostra._ (Neon, I'm giving you a choice. You can either come with me and Appi on the Cursed Arkos, or you can take one of the lifeboats. If you get on the Cursed Arkos, you can leave at the next port we get off at. Or… you can join us. Live like a pirate. It's your choice.)" Jaune said, keeping that same smile on his face. Neon looked up, her eyes widening slightly. She looked over, seeing the captain of the ship still sitting there. To be given the choice… to be given the choice of freedom… " _Mi porti con te._ (Take me with you.)" she said, not even bothering to hesitate. Jaune smiled, holding out a hand to her. She timidly grabbed it, surprised when Jaune shook her hand, a gesture she'd only seen done a few times by her masters, and it was most often done with respect. Yet here she was, a mere slave, being given that same respect.

"Buona. Now let's head out."

 **(a/n- Just gonna apologize in advance about the Italian in the chapter (what Neon and Jaune speak). It's likely wrong… hence the reason I put the translations.)**


	6. Cuddly Neo and Penny oh, and Neon too

Chapter six: Recovery and cuddles ( **a/n- Ironically not talking about Ruby here… well not** _ **just**_ **Ruby anyway)**

"May… oh, right."

Yang said as she looked in the room, seeing her little sister sleeping next to her diplomat. She'd almost forgotten, in her rush of turbo the night previous, that her sister would oftentimes come down and sleep with May when she had her night with the twins. May yawned, blinking the sleep out of her eyes for a second as she sat up, Ruby moving around and sitting on her lap with her. Their foreheads touched as May yawned again, giving Yang a small smile. "What is it?" "We pulled someone up from the side, problem is she doesn't speak English. It's a faunus girl." she explained. May nodded, standing up and laying the still sleeping Ruby back on her bed, where said girl proceeded to curl up into a fetal position, rubbing her head against her pillow.

May turned away (with much effort mind you) and walked towards Yang, raising an eyebrow at the captains appearance. It wasn't anything unusual for Yang but… well, it _had_ been awhile since May had seen her captain just after she woke up. After all, she spent most of her days down in her own corner of the ship anyway. The captain hadn't taken much of anything out with her, her only clothing her shorts and her hair flipped over her breasts. May placed her hand on Yang's shoulder, looking around to find that -sure enough- her back was _covered_ in fresh welt marks, no doubt made with the twins' whip. She still wore her gauntlets, but now she went without the benefit off her pistols, or the coverage of her large breasts they provided. "Whip night?" "Dog-collar night." Yang replied with a small smirk, most likely in reaction to May's small blush.

Yang turned around, the two women walking back up the stairs and towards the main deck, many of the crew greeting them as they walked past. Now, _most_ people would stop and raise an eyebrow -perhaps even stare- at a half naked woman covered only by her hair and some shorts. However, Yang's crew weren't ' _most people_ '. Every man and woman, human and faunus, that had ever served in Yang's crew knew what she looked like naked. Either it was due to the twins wanting to take their 'fun' up to the main deck or a more public place, Yang's naked streaks whenever she first started the turbo, or even just her tendency to walk around mostly naked anyway. The two walked out onto the main deck, Yang breathing in the air before she frowned. May looked down, watching Yang's hands start trembling. "Are you-" "I'm fine. Come on." she said, quickly walking forward, clenching her hands into fists to get the shaking to stop.

May turned ahead, looking out to watch the sun slowly slipping over the horizon, the sea turning a brilliant gold as she saw a pod of dolphins come up for air, swimming past the horizon. She smiled at the sight before she turned, her eyes widening as she saw the scene on the main deck. Towards the center she saw a fishing net, sprawled out on the deck, empty except for a single being. That _being_ was a young woman -maybe a little older than herself if May had to guess- covered in something rather similar to Yang. Though, whereas Yang had shorts, this girl had shackles on her arms. Her hair was long and brown, with two rabbit ears sticking up in the air as her brown eyes flickered nervously among the crew members. May walked over, looking towards the girl as the two's eyes met.

" _Ahnok._ (Hello.)." May said gently, reaching a hand out towards the faunus girl. Said girl's eyes widened as she nodded a few times, gingerly walking over and shaking her hand… well, as best as she could with her hands shackled anyway. " _Dii faanro Aal Zedong, fosro hin?_ (My name's May Zedong, what's yours?)" "... Velvet." she said, smiling slightly at the captain. Her endless pleas at the crew to help her had gotten her nowhere, at least now there was someone that could speak her language. " _Kolos hi nol?_ (Where are you from?)" May asked, hoping to get as much information as she could. Based on the shackles, she was guessing the girl was either a slave or an escaped criminal… probably both come to think of it. " _Dinok_." she said. Yang walked over, interrupting the faunus-tongue conversation and dragging May out into her own.

"Okay… what the fuck is she saying?" "She says her name's Velvet, and that she's from _Dinok_. It's that place in Vale called 'Death Isle'." May replied to her captain, the captain that was repeatedly patting around her shorts, as if looking for a shot of her turbo. Her eyes were starting to sport panic, something the headstrong pirate would normally never let slip past her. May sighed, reaching into her pocket and pulling out one of the familiar red vials. She tossed it at Yang, the suffering captain grabbing it, breaking it apart as she inhaled the familiar red-dust. "Oooooh yeah… better…" said captain said, her eyes both turning red as she leaned back, unconsciously flexing her muscles as she felt the familiar drug running through her. May frowned, doing something no sane person would _ever_ do to someone on turbo… or Yang in general: She placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It'll kill you. You know that." "Shut up. We'll all die eventually, I'm here for a good time, not a long one." Yang said, smirking at her diplomat as May's eyes stayed exactly where they were. Looking into Yang's, wondering just what the hell had happened to make her this way. It wasn't the first time May had thought of that question, and it wasn't the first time the question had been thought at all. Yet no one knew the answer to it. No one… but Yang. May turned back to Velvet, "What should I be saying?" "Ask her why she's naked." Yang said. May repeated it, to which her only reply was a bunch of stuttering, Velvet's face burning as she realized she was baring all to the two women. May sighed, " _Sken, druv los nust til._ (The shackles, why're they there?)" she asked, figuring she'd get the elephant in the room out of the way. Velvet looked down, frowning as a single tear dropped from her eye. Then she pointed at herself, saying the only word she knew in the strange tongue of the women.

"Slave."

…

"Neo?"

Said girl slowly looked up, her eyes blank as she tried to regain some semblance of control over herself, blinking away at the tears in her eyes as she saw the familiar, blond boy walking towards her. With him were Appi- no surprise there- and a cat-faunus girl in rags -okay, _minor_ surprise with that one. Jaune walked to his shorter crew member, frowning as he turned, seeing the bloody daggers set against her pants, the blood soaked into her white coat, a bit smeared over her face. He signed to her, wanting their conversation to be a bit more private. " _Did you…?_ " " _It was him… or me… I knocked him down I… I let him walk away. He still… he still tried. He still tried to kill me Jaune. Why?! I gave him the chance! He could've lived!_ " her signs were becoming more frantic and wild the longer she signed, tears slowly falling as faint sobs slipped out of her mouth

Jaune placed a consoling hand on her shoulder, pulling her into a hug. "Shh… it's okay… you did what you had to. It's okay Neo… everything's going to be fine…" he said, shutting his eyes as he wrapped the smaller woman in his embrace. Neo didn't move. She wouldn't move an inch, nothing but her hands to talk with Jaune. Now though, she didn't even move them. She let them fall limp, eyes lifeless as those of the corpses nearby. Jaune pulled back, frowning as he saw her blank eyes. Her eyes slowly turned to him, her hands coming up to gesture again. " _It hurts… to breath._ " "It's okay. Appi can heal you. Can you walk?" Jaune asked, giving a small smile to the smaller girl. Neo shook her head, looking down at the ground. She didn't want to move. She felt the lead in her legs and knew she'd break down if she moved even an inch.

Her eyes widened as Jaune hoisted her up, carrying her bridal style back towards the ship. He looked down at her, his eyes strong and concerned. "The crew can loot the ship, we'll get you to Appi." he said, turning back ahead. Neo's eyes didn't move. She kept staring at him, the determined expression set on his face as he looked straight ahead, eyes never wavering from their goal. In that moment, Neo didn't see Jaune. She saw an angel, guiding her through the gates to whatever lay beyond her. She looked back, watching as the crew took the dead bodies, casually stripping them to nothing before tossing them through the gates near the center, other crew members guiding unresistant civilians to the nearby lifeboats.

"NO! STOP!"

A shout pierced the air, causing Neo and Jaune both to turn around. They saw a woman struggling against one of the Cursed Arkos's crew. He punched the woman to the ground, leaning in and unbuttoning her blouse. "Stop struggling you little bitch!" "Appi, deal with that man!" Jaune yelled, pointing at the crewman trying to rape the woman. Appi smirked, dashing over to the man as she drew her whip. A split second later the man was pulled back, Appi's whip wrapped around his neck as she started pulling him towards the mast. Meanwhile, Jaune gently set Neo on the ground before jumping up onto the iron bow. He looked out at his crew, that same determination Neo had seen in his eyes a moment ago remaining as he spoke. "Look at this man! He has broken our code in his attempt to defile an innocent! This will _not_ be tolerated, and will be dealt with as all code-breakers are! APPI! SWING HIM OFF!" Jaune yelled.

"Gladly my captain.~" Appi said, smirking as she jumped up the mast, climbing up as she carried the man -by his neck- with her. The crewman grabbed at the whip, but Appi's grip on both ends was too strong. She held firm until the man's feet stopped kicking his hands falling to his sides. His eyes gazed unblinking at the burning sun, his chest no longer heaving with the struggled effort of breathing. Appi let go of the tip of her whip, watching with a grim satisfaction as the man fell to the deck below, as dead as the murdered crewmen. Jaune jumped down the bow, walking with unflinching determination to the woman a member of his crew had tried to rape. He stood above the kneeling woman, her eyes wide as Jaune reached into his coat. He held out the woman's hand, placing five gold coins in her hand. "I'm sorry. This can't make up for it, but I do hope it can help you in some way. Now go, you won't want to go down with the ship." he said, giving the woman a small smile as he slightly pushed her towards the lifeboats.

The woman looked after Jaune in disbelief, then looking back at the coins. They were real alright, coins that he'd no doubt taken from the ship itself. She looked up, watching as the pirates loaded back onto their own ship, even as her brothers and sisters pulled her onto a lifeboat. " _He just… he saved me… why?_ " she thought, even as she saw the ship falling, the Cursed Arkos sailing off towards Atlas. She looked at the coins, clutching them in one hand as she buttoned up her blouse with the other. She turned, looking after the ship as it sailed away, watching as the waves carried it off to the next quarry.

" _Why would they care about us?_ "

Meanwhile, back on the Curse Arkos, Jaune returned to Neo. Without a single sign or word he picked her up, carrying her back towards Appi's cabin, said woman walking just in front of them. Neo looked up, smiling slightly at the captain. Inside his eyes she could see it, now that the fire from the raid was gone. She could see the soul in his eyes… it was honestly rather pretty to look at. Jaune seemed to sense her gaze, blue eyes turning down to meet white ones. "What're you looking at Neo?" he asked, returning the girls smile. Neo didn't sign back, only leaning against his chest, rubbing her head slightly against his lapel. Jaune stared a beat longer before he turned in front of him, finding Appi staring back at the two of them from within her cabin, a small smile on her face. "Like a _kiir_ to her _bormah_. Or perhaps _liin_ to _liin_?~" she said, showing her feline heritage in her smile.

Jaune blushed since -although he had absolutely _no_ clue what _liin_ meant, he could take a guess based on her tone it was something embarrassing for him, and _highly_ amusing for her. "She took a few hits on the ship, mind healing her?" "It's what I'm here for." Appi said, smiling as she went to take Neo from Jaune's arms. Though, the second she pulled back, she stumbled, falling over with neo laid sideways over her stomach. "She's… a bit lighter than I thought she'd be." "Weird huh? Like lifting a baby." Jaune said, looking down at Neo. She didn't blush -as Jaune would've in the same situation- but rather smiled, signing a quick 'thank you' to Jaune. Appi lifted Neo, being _much_ more careful this time around, onto the nearby table. She shed her black cloak as she usually did, setting her whip aside as she placed her hand on Neo's forehead. "Where does it hurt?" she asked, her eyes trailing down Neo's body.

Neo vaguely gestured to her stomach and chest, the areas where the man had stomped. Appi nodded, looking towards Jaune, "I may not mind you seeing _me_ as I was born, but I doubt Neo will be as relaxed. You best wait outside." "Oh, alright then." Jaune said, both him and Neo blushing at what Appi was saying. He turned around, turning around to shut the door as he caught a glimpse of Appi pulling back on Neo's shirt. He shut the door, leaning back against the wall as he let out a breath. "Well… not the _worst_ raid we've ever had?" " _Jaune?_ " he heard the familiar voice ask. He looked over, smiling as he saw the familiar cat faunus walking towards him, giving him a faint smile. " _Ciao_." " _Ciao… So... cosa succede adesso?_ (Hello… so… what now?)" Neon asked, dropping the smile for a look of vague curiosity. What was she supposed to do? Most of her life -barring her few years as a kitten- she had followed someone else's orders. She'd grown up on the sea, passed from captain to captain as she aged. What was she supposed to do now?

" _Beh, prima_ (Well, _first_ )" Jaune said, walking over and lightly grabbing at the brown sack Neon had for clothes. He hadn't been rough, but it was so fragile it practically tore off in his fingers, leaving a small spot of skin over her shoulder open. " _Stiamo ricevendo alcuni nuovi vestiti_ (We're getting you some new clothes)." he finished, reaching out and taking her hand. Neon raised an eyebrow, but allowed the captain to lead her deeper into the belly of the ship. What did he mean by _new clothes_? Her sack wasn't decayed to the point of making her indecent yet. That was the only time she'd _ever_ gotten new clothes from her captains. " _Maybe he wants me to wear something more flattering before he sleeps with me…that must be it._ " she thought, feeling her tail start dragging slightly as she looked down, letting out a quiet sigh. She knew it was too good to be true. She'd only gone from being a working slave for an old captain to a slut for a young one. Still, at least it was _some_ improvement. Couldn't be as bad as what the old captain had done to her.

Jaune was -as is normal with him- completely oblivious to the depressed nature of his new crew member. He guided both of them to a stop in front of a familiar door, smiling as he pushed it open, motioning Neon inside. She walked ahead off him, her eyes widening as she saw a vast array of clothing. More vast than anything she'd ever _seen_. " _Scegli un vestito che ti piace, aspetterò all'esterno_ (Pick an outfit you like, I'll wait outside)." Jaune said before he shut the door, leaning back against the wall nearby. Meanwhile, Neon looked around, the fur on her tail bristling as her eyes widened. " _What if this is some kind of test? What if he'll kick me overboard if I don't choose the right one? What if he'll set his men on me!? Oh no… think Neon, what did all your masters like to see you in?_ " she thought as she quickly looked around, trying to find something that would please Jaune, who she _hoped_ would be somewhat forgiving of her.

" _Let's see… normally they all had me strip down somewhat… oh! Maybe this!_ " she thought as she picked up a nearby outfit. The outfit was one of the more revealing among them, consisting of a bright blue bra and black shorts, ones that looked _far_ too small for her. She stripped off her sack and pulled them on, smiling slightly when she felt her tail slip above the shorts. Despite being rather… well, provocative, it was actually rather comfortable. It felt almost… natural, to the young faunus. She turned around, taking a few breaths before she opened the door. " _Jaune… che cosa ne pensate?_ (Jaune… what do you think?)" she asked, feeling that familiar stab of fear in her chest at the words. Jaune turned, his eyes widening slightly, his face burning a slightly darker shade of red.

"Uhh…" "Hmm?" Neon said, her tail swishing slightly behind her. That… wasn't the reaction she expected. Not at _all_. She'd expected him to either praise her on her choice, beat her for her choice, or strip her down to nothing before screwing her in the hallway. Granted, that last one _had_ only happened once so… maybe not. " _Non è questo ciò che ho dovuto indossare?_ (Is this not what I'm supposed to wear?)" " _Non è che! Si tratta solo di... non volete qualcosa di meno... rivelando?_ (It's not that! It's just... wouldn't you want something less... revealing?)" Jaune asked, trying to keep his eyes away from his new crew member's choice in fashion. It was… well, not really _surprising_ to him -he _did_ have to contend with Appi every day- but still, he'd expected a former slave would want something more dignified than a simple pair of underwear. If Jaune remembered correctly, those were actually the old clothes of one of the crew, back when they worked as a whore in Atlas.

Of course, Jaune didn't _say_ any of this to Neon, merely looking at her as the girl stood there. For the first time in her life, someone was asking her what _she_ wanted, and not telling her. For the first time, she had to make a choice herself. She looked back, smiling slightly as she saw her tail swinging around. " _No... Il genere I di come questo._ (No… I kind of like this.)" " _Abbastanza giusto_. (Fair enough)" Jaune replied, giving her a slight smile as reached out to her. Neon flinched back out of reflex, the fur on her hair standing on end before she felt the gentle sense on her shoulder. She looked down, afraid to move as she saw Jaune's hand casually laid on her shoulder. He wasn't squeezing, it didn't really hurt her. Sure enough when she stepped back, he let his hand fall to his side. " _Perché?_ (Why?)" " _Perché che cosa?_ (Why what?)" Jaune replied, giving her a gentle smile.

Neon looked down, frowning at the ground as she pawed at it with one foot, letting it laze about as she spoke, " _Perché siete così dolce? Nessun maestro ha mai-_ (Why are you so gentle? No master has ever-)" " _Arrestare_. (Stop)." Jaune took a breath, " _Io non sono il vostro maestro e voi non lo siete uno slave. È possibile scegliere di essere qui, ed è la vostra scelta se si desidera soggiornare. Potrete seguire gli ordini come qualsiasi del mio equipaggio, ma io non sono il tuo padrone... vi preghiamo di non chiamare me che e non chiamare te uno schiavo o, okay?_ (I'm not your master, you aren't a slave. You choose to be here, and it's your choice if you want to stay. You'll follow orders like any of my crew, but I am NOT your master... please, never call me that, and don't call yourself a slave either, okay?)" he said, placing his hands on her shoulders again.

Neon looked down, nodding for a second before she smiled, "Okay." "Buona." Jaune said, letting a sigh of relief go as he turned around, Neon following behind him as he walked towards Appi to see Neo. He knocked on the door a few times, making sure that both of them were decent. "Come in." he heard the familiar voice of Appi say through the door. He pushed open the door, smiling as he felt a small pressure against his belly. He looked down, seeing Neo laying her chin there, smiling up at him. It was almost out of reflex that he placed his hand on her head, slightly rubbing her hair almost like he would a dog. "Hey Neo, feel better?" " _Much better._ " Neo signed before wrapping her arms around Jaune.

Jaune only chuckled, laying his hands on her back as the girl seemed to rub her head into his belly. He looked at Appi, frowning when she saw that familiar look in her eyes. "Appi… what did you do?" Jaune asked, as if a parent who'd just caught their child doing something they shouldn't have. Appi looked away, a small smirk present on her lips. Jaune barely heard the chuckle as she spoke, "Why would you assume little old _me_ did something?~" "Because you're _you_ , now tell me before- huh? Neo?" he looked down, raising an eyebrow as he felt Neo practically climb him, rubbing her cheek against his. When she pulled back, he noticed something he hadn't the first time. Her eyes were a sort of mix between pale pink and white, as if they couldn't make up their mind. She nuzzled into the base of the blushing Arc's neck before he glared at Appi.

She sighed, "I gave her a dollop of whiskey to ease the pain." "A-Appi! Are you _mental_!? She's so small just a dollop could-" Neo rubbed against the side of Jaune's head, lightly nibbling on his ear. "G-get her… w-wasted… Neo… please stop…" he said, fighting through his blush as he felt the smaller girl gently nibbling on his ear. Given her size and drunken state, it didn't hurt all _that_ much. Of course, that didn't mean he didn't want her to _stop_. Appi only laughed, "She's a _very_ clingy drunk. You wouldn't _believe_ how much she loved my tail." she said, swishing around her tail to reveal -sure enough- faint but recognizable hand prints. Jaune looked over, watching as Neo leaned back, nearly falling off him. He reacted out of instinct, wrapping his arms around her. Sure enough, she did the same to him, leaning down and rubbing against his chest again. He sighed, " _Well, no use staying here. Appi might make it WORSE_." he thought as he turned, Neon silently following behind him as the trio made their way through the hallways of the ship.

Those that they passed didn't question it all that much. If one of the crew members was severely injured enough Appi used whiskey to dull the pain, it was either Jaune or Appi that brought them back to their cabin. Jaune since the female members tended to be more likely to follow him in their drunken state, and Appi for… well, _obvious_ reasons. After a moment the three reached Jaune's cabin, the door already opened oddly enough. Jaune looked in, raising an eyebrow when he saw none other than Penny sitting on his desk. Eyes closed as her head and feet swung to some unheard rhythm. Now, that in and of itself wasn't what confused Jaune -as the young navigator had a nasty habit of wandering the ship and appearing in places no one expected her. Rather, what surprised him was what she was wearing.

Rather than her normal attire, she was clad in what seemed to be a long orange shirt, just short enough to expose the black panties she wore beneath. Her feet were bare -which on a wooden ship was strange enough- and her hands clasped lightly in her lap. "Penny?" "Hmm? Oh hi Jaune! Hi Neo! Hi random faunus girl I've never seen before!" she said, waving at all of them with that cheery, bright smile of hers. Neon -who was more than a little confused- gave a cautious wave back. Neo was -of course- too drunk and absorbed in rubbing against Jaune to notice, and Jaune himself only smiled at the cheerful Atlesian girl. Probably the only Atlesian he'd ever met that he _didn't_ want to punch in the face after a five minutes chat. He walked in past her, trying to balance both through the rocking of the ship, Neo's extra weight added to his, and his own terrible sense of balance.

Penny looked down, raising an eyebrow at the clingy Neo. "Why is she attached to you?" "She's drunk." Jaune said simply, walking over and sitting down in his chair. Sure enough, Neo moved to accommodate, sitting in his lap and rubbing against his hair, chest, cheek, really _anything_ she could reach. Jaune just sat their, wrapping his arms around her thin waist to keep her from falling off the chair and potentially hurting herself. Penny walked over, laying her chin on Jaune's shoulder as Neo's hazed eyes gazed up at her. Penny smiled back, 'Hi drunk Neo! I'm sober Penny!" she said, moving her head so that her cheek was flush against Jaune's. Neo didn't say anything -even if she _could_ speak she probably wouldn't right now anyway- but rather just leaned in, trying to get a clearer glance at Penny.

Penny didn't seem to mind, leaning over and pressing her forehead against Neo's, leaning over the chair so that her shoulder was against Jaune's cheek. "Penny careful! You'll-" before Jaune could finish his warning, he felt the chair tilt back. He just sighed, shutting his eyes and bracing for the impact. Sure enough, he felt a pressure against his legs a second later, his chair hitting the ground. He looked away before he opened his eyes, seeing the edge of his bed and -in his peripheral vision- Penny reorienting herself the right direction. When he saw her eyes again, he turned, looking down to see Neo nuzzling into his chest, Penny's arm wrapped around her. Penny smiled, "Yay! Cuddle pile on the captain!" "Penny this isn't… don't give me that look… Penny…" Jaune looked down, frowning as he saw his younger navigator pouting at him, giving him a look like he'd just seen the most adorable puppy cuddling a the world's most adorable kitten… and then had ruthlessly beaten them with a bat.

Jaune sighed, "You know I can't say no to that face…" "Thanks Jaune!" she leaned in, lightly kissing Jaune's nose before leaning down, hugging Neo to her before nuzzling into Jaune's chest. He just looked on, unable to help but smile at the bright and cheerful Penny. " _Wonder if this is how dad felt when me and Ora piled on him?_ " he thought with a smile. Meanwhile, Neon looked on with an odd mixture of fascination and horror. Was this girl attacking Jaune? Was she trying to mate with him in some strange ritual not known to her? Was this normal? Abnormal? What was it? She walked over, raising an eyebrow at Jaune, " _Umm... cosa sta succedendo?_ (Umm… what's going on?)" " _Si tratta di un 'coccola pila'... non chiedere._ (It's a 'cuddle pile'... don't ask.)" was his reply. Penny, on the other hand, seemed to have other ideas.

"Oooooh you speak mistralean. _Vieni! Coccolare con noi!_ (Come on! Cuddle with us!)" Penny said, smiling back at Neon. It was a little known fact around the ship that Penny was almost as fluent in Mistralean as Jaune… albeit her Mistralean still had that Atlas accent and some words she didn't know. She wasn't a _native_ after all. Neon looked at Jaune, her eyes asking the question for her. Jaune only sighed, letting out a small chuckle when he saw that look in Penny's eyes. " _Perché non?_ (Why not?)" " _Yeah! Più siamo meglio è!_ (Yeah! The more the merrier!)" {Penny said, eagerly motioning the faunus girl towards her little pile on Jaune. Neon was hesitant in walking over, but a quick jerk on her wrist from Penny pulled her right down on the pile, her face landing somewhere near Neo's shoulder. Penny immediately reached back, lightly rubbing on Neon's tail. _That_ got her to loosen up rather quickly, causing her to rub against Jaune and Neo alike as she started purring, Penny pulling Jaune's arms out from Neo and wrapping them around all three of them. Thankfully the three women were relatively small, able to fit in Jaune's grasp. Jaune only sighed,

" _I really need to learn how to say no…_ "


	7. The part where the website breaks on me

Chapter seven: Past pains, future promises

"RUBY!?"

Ruby opened her eyes, those silver eyes wide and frightened as she gazed upon the scene that lay before her. Pieces of wood scattered across the surface, broken only by the waves that hit them, extinguishing the flames of the lower hanging wreckage. The remnants of a once great vessel lay sinking into the depths, caught ablaze by it's cargo and the flaming death rained upon them by the larger ship that lay dormant in the distance. Ruby stood, only for the piece of wood she'd been on to fall with the imbalance, tossing her to the waves. She surfaced, gasping for air as she wrapped her arms along the platform, head swiveling for the source of the voice.

"RUBY!"

She found that source only a moment later, the familiar silver eyed, black haired woman the sole occupant of a lifeboat, slowly paddling towards her. "MOMMY!" Ruby yelled, scrambling onto the wood, out of the cold waters of the sea. She looked up, her eyes widening as she saw yet another lifeboat. This one, however, she knew was different. This one didn't bear the comfort of seeing her mother, but the horror at seeing those that had sunk the ship. Her mother had just reached her, was just reaching out to pull her onto the boat, when she began to hear their voices. "Oi! We got two survivors 'ere!" one of them yelled, looking back towards the man behind them. The man bore a mop of gray hair, a blade at his side with the familiar look of a Valean blacksmith. His eyes shown a faded brown as he drew his sword, pointing the silver and black blade at the women.

"Bring them aboard." he said, a voice of a wizened old captain, one who'd not only seen the trials and tribulations of the seas, but had conquered them, been molded by them, made stronger because of them. He gazed at them with a sort of familiarity. He'd seen them before, but young Ruby didn't know how this man knew her. Nor how she must've known him. Her mother turned, her eyes wide as she leaned down, wrapping her daughter in her arms and pulling her to the safety of the lifeboat. She grabbed a paddle, shoving of from a nearby bit of debris, into the night. " _I'll take my chances with the sea._ " Ruby could almost hear her mother thinking. She knew that something was wrong with those men, if her mother was willing to risk heading out to sea on a flimsy lifeboat over the safety of a frigate.

She saw a boarding hook thrown onto their boat, the whole thing lurching back as her mother dashed over to remove it. Yet for every one she removed, another two seemed to take it's place. Eventually, the two boats were touched together, the silver haired man approaching the silver eyed women. "Summer Rose." he said simply, looking down at the woman with a blank gaze. Summer stood, reaching into her waistcoat and drawing her dagger, keeping herself between the man and her daughter. "Stop. I don't want to hurt you." he said, flicking his sword into the air between them, as if cutting the tension with the sharp blade. Summer looked back, her head framed by the brilliant fires of the ship, only outshined by the fire of love and fear burning within those two silver crystals of hers. She turned back to the man, grabbing a nearby paddle and tossing it to her daughter. "Ruby… remember how I told you to keep your gift hidden?" she asked.

Ruby gulped, "Are you saying…" Ruby trailed off, not knowing what to think. She'd been taught to hide her 'gift' since the day she showed potential of having it… yet, now? Was her mother saying to use it? "Yes… go! Now! Hurry!" she said. Ruby gulped, grabbing the paddle. Her eyes widened as time seemed to cease it's meaning, her mother's eyes gazing lovingly at her as she realized what it meant. She saw her turn, lunging at the man with her dagger as he held his blade. Ruby's eyes widened, tears flowed down her cheeks unrestrained as she saw her mother's white coat stained red with blood, her only victory a slash mark across the man's face, blood flowing over his eye. She stood frozen, watching her mother fall to the ground, the man's blade in her chest. She saw her eyes dull, gazing at the moon they seemed so similar to.

The man turned to her, "I didn't want to-" she didn't stop to hear what he said. Ruby jumped over the edge of the boat, letting her gift run free as she dashed ahead, tears leaving her as she dashed across the water, as fast as she could, rose petals trailing in her wake. The man stood, watching in disbelief while he nursed his injured eye, looking down to the woman he'd just killed. "She really is just like you." one could almost hear him muttering. Ruby dashed away, never once stopping until she felt she couldn't move. Not anymore. When she fell to the water, the paddle her mother had given her the only thing keeping her afloat, the burning wreckage was just a spot on the horizon, like the rising sun in the other direction.

She leaned against the paddle with one arm, looking around in every direction. All she saw was water. Water, water, everywhere. There wasn't a speck of land in sight. "Mom… what do I do?" she muttered, hoping that someway, somehow her mother could give her guidance, even from the cold hands of death itself. Yet her hope was misguided, her prayers unanswered. She sat there, adrift, waiting. Waiting. Waiting perhaps for death to claim her as it did her mother, perhaps for someone to find her and take her somewhere safe. She didn't know, she didn't want to know. She just wanted to rest, to wait, she just wanted her mother. As she leaned against the paddle, she felt her eyes closing, despite the waves constantly pushing her along in the oddly calm sea, as if the world itself were aghast at what had occurred. With both hands over the paddle, her face against the wood, her eyes slipped shut, and off to dreamland she sailed.

 **…**

"Ruby?"

Ruby opened her eyes, looking around once more. This time she didn't see ocean and sky everywhere, but rather she saw the familiar wooden ceiling of May's cabin, the familiar table next to her, and she felt herself in her familiar red underwear, with her nightgown just a few paces away. She looked up, smiling as she saw May walked towards her, her eyes holding the hints of concern. "Nightmare?" she asked, gesturing to Ruby's face. Ruby reached up, running her hand along her face, only for it to come away wet. Sure enough, as she'd wept in the dream, her body had wept with her. She shook her head, "No… just a memory…" she said, standing up and walking over to May. She looked at her for only a second before wrapping her arms around her, burying her head in her chest for a moment.

May hesitated only a second before wrapping her arms around the younger girl, smiling down at her as she pat her back, her chin on top of her head. "Why did you leave?" Ruby asked, peeling back and looking up at the taller diplomat. May frowned, looking away from Ruby for a second. "There's uh… Yang needed me, that's all." she said, deciding against telling Ruby about the new faunus on the ship at the moment. Ruby just nodded, reluctantly peeling away and grabbing her nightgown, pulling it on over her underwear. She yawned, stretching for a second before she looked over at May. "Is the sun up yet?" she asked.

May shook her head, "No, but if we hurry we might see the sunrise." she said. Ruby's eyes lit up at that, dashing towards May and pulling her out of her cabin, up towards the surface. Since they were still at sea, May wasn't particularly worried about anyone outside of Yang's crew seeing her face. The two women dashed up the stairs, Ruby stopping only for May to catch her breath… turned out being below deck all day with nothing to do but read and walk aimlessly around the ship wasn't the best way to build up stamina. When May did catch her breath, Ruby wasted no time in dashing out past a few startled crew members, stepping out to the starboard (right) side for a better view of the sun. Looking out over the open water, May leaning against the side of the deck to catch her breath, the two saw the first golden twilights above them, shining out across the sky.

Ruby smiled, her eyes filled with that unmistakable wonder as she gazed out to sea, her smile rising with the dawn. May watched not the sunset, but Ruby. She watched as the girl she knew was a deadly killing machine seemed to become a small, innocent a child, gazing out at the sea with that excitable joy only youth could bring. She turned back to the sun after awhile, squinting slightly as she saw it break over the horizon, shimmering beams of light darting over the sea. Red and pink painting the sky as it rose. The two stood there, watching and listening, never once saying a word. Ruby leaned towards May, and May was all too happy to lean towards Ruby, wrapping an arm around her.

Ruby kept gazing… but the more time went on, the more her smile turned to that of a frown. May noticed, turning Ruby from the sun to look at her. "What's wrong?" she asked. Ruby opened her mouth to answer, but instead of answering, she wrapped her arms around May, burying her head in her shoulder. May didn't even think as she returned the gesture, whispering comforting words into Ruby's ear as she felt the smaller girl start shaking. " _It's beautiful, isn't it Ruby?_ " said girl could hear whisper in her ear. Taunting her. Luring her. Baiting her into that pit of sadness and despair she knew was oh so difficult to escape from. She tried to focus on May, the way her bare shoulder felt on her skin… then she found something else to focus on.

"Wait… have you been wearing that this whole time?" she asked, looking down at the girl's underwear. May stepped back, nodding a few times, keeping her concerned eyes on Ruby. Ruby looked down, "Wait… did you put on any clothes when you…" she trailed off, looking to her. May raised an eyebrow, her face flushing pink when she realized what she meant… and more importantly, when she realized she was right. "I uh… no, I didn't… eh, I don't think anyone cares. I mean Yang walks around naked all the time, right?" she said, smiling slightly as Ruby giggled. May took it as a sign of improvement, a sign the girl had forgotten whatever it was that was making her sad just a moment before.

Sure enough, May was right. Ruby had all but forgotten what had been troubling her about the sunrise. "I better get ready for the day… you've probably got some things to do too." she said, frowning slightly. May frowned right back, nodding a few times. Then she smiled, leaning down and pecking Ruby on the cheek. "Come be my little baby again soon, okay?" she said, her voice completely serious… somehow. Ruby's face resembled her namesake as she wrapped her arms around May again, kissing her cheek in tandem before she stepped back. "I will mama…" she trailed off, the two looking at each other for a moment before May turned away, walking back towards her cabin in the lower deck. Ruby stood there a moment longer, looking around at the sunrise one more time before she disappeared below deck.

" _I promise…_ "

…

" _No… more…_ "

Pyrrha thought as she opened her eyes, expecting to see her tormenter again. Her bare body bore the brands and scars, a thousand different cuts and bruises littering her flesh as she swung there, dangling from metal restraints, yet hardly able to even move thanks to the pain. She looked up, her eyes widening slightly as she saw who was walking towards her. It wasn't her torturer, nor was it the captain of the royal guard, here to either gloat or to take her back to her wooden cell. Instead, it was a woman, bearing a sheet of pale green hair around her head, red eyes gazing up at the weak captain. A frown appeared on her lips as she walked over, leaning down near the red-headed woman. She didn't say a word as she reached into a small purse at her side, laying down a bag of herbs.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow as she felt the familiar, cold relief of the herbs she'd so often used to treat her own wounds. She wouldn't be as confused at the woman seemingly healing her if not for one reason: Why was her healer wearing a dress? If she worked in the dungeons, she'd have on _some_ kind of uniform… yet instead, she wore a long, green silk dress, falling to the floor and pooling around her ankles. When she leaned back on her heels, Pyrrha noticed the girl's eyes. They held in them a certain sympathy, one she'd not seen since… well, the only one she remembered seeing it on since she left home so many years ago was… Jaune. "That should keep you from being infected… I hate that they're doing this to you." she said, frowning at Pyrrha. Said red-head was -of course- unable to respond thanks to the gag in her mouth, but the green-haired woman seemed undeterred.

"It never works. It never has. They punish people so badly they never get any better, just get angrier and angrier at us and want to break laws more… it's just this long, endless cycle of crime and punishment." she said, frowning as she leaned down, lightly toying with the end of her dress. Pyrrha kept looking at the woman, weirded out about the whole thing. Here was this girl -assumingly a noble based on the silk dress- coming down into the dungeon, healing a prisoner, and talking to them while they couldn't actually talk back. She couldn't make sense of it. "You know, before I always looked up to you. A brave, pirate captain willing to break the rules, take what she wanted from the people that wronged her… I always wished I could be more like you, make my way in the world." she said. Then she frowned, letting out a sigh.

"Kind of funny really. Two poor kids from the slums of Mistral meeting in a dungeon? One a captured pirate captain, one a servant… almost poetic." she said. Pyrrha squinted towards her… did she know this woman? She acted as if they were friends at one point, or at the very _least_ knew each other… you'd think the pale green hair would be a dead giveaway, but Pyrrha just couldn't remember her name. The woman reached over, untying the gag around Pyrrha's mouth, smiling down at her, "You don't remember me huh?" she asked. Pyrrha just shook her head, watching as the woman's hands fell in her lap, lightly gripping the fabric, as if guilty she was even wearing it. She smiled, "Emerald Sustrai… me and you grew up in the east, down in the slums. You were a brawler… I was a thief." she said.

Pyrrha's eyes widened, "Emerald… they caught you. You robbed a _noble_." she said, trying to figure out how the girl had gotten out. If she remembered correctly, she'd been caught using her semblance to steal from a noble… for a poor girl like her, that would be at least a forty year sentence, maybe even life or hanging when they figured out she had a semblance. She smiled, "Yeah… turns out it wasn't a _noble_ , it was a prince. That prince -for some goddamn reason- seemed to like me. He gave me a choice. Become his personal servant, or be hanged… you can see what I choose." she said, gesturing down at her long, silk dress. Pyrrha nodded a few times… though, something she'd said still caught her attention.

"The king just _let_ that happen? He was willing to let a prince take a poor girl as a servant?" she asked. That seemed to be the most perplexing thing about all of this. Almost all the servants of royals came from either middle-class families or they were slaves… to take a willing one from a poor district was all but forbidden, let alone unheard of. Emerald smiled, "Well, he made a deal with the king. He'd finally stop resisting his teachers about telling him all the government running things, and he'd get me. Though…" she turned away, her face bearing an uncharacteristic blush to it. Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at the red-eyed girl. If she remembered Emerald correctly (which she probably didn't thanks to the ten-years of not seeing her), she was the one that normally _made_ people blush, not the other way around. "What?" Pyrrha asked.

"The king… refused to let me be _just_ a servant. He said that when me and the prince turned sixteen, I would become his… well, his concubine." she said, looking away for a moment. Pyrrha… well, her face _would've_ burned if it could. To be fair she was suspended upside down with all the blood flowing down to her head. "Oh… so, you and the prince have…" Pyrrha trailed off, looking up towards Emerald's upside-down image. Emerald shook her head, giving a small smirk towards her. "Not yet we haven't. I'm a virgin concubine… never thought those two words would go together in the same sentence." she said, rousing a small chuckle out of Pyrrha. It was the first real laugh she'd been able to share with someone since… well, since she'd been captured on her last raid.

Emerald reached over, retying Pyrrha's gag before she gave a slight smile towards her. "I'll try and talk to you again later. I better not be down here too long." she said, standing and turning around, wiping the smile from her face as she walked towards the exit. On the way, she saw the familiar, black-masked man walking past her, ignoring the familiar whistle he gave towards her. She kept her eyes blank and straight forward, walking down the dark, dungeon hallways as the man no doubt returned to torture the poor pirate captain. Meanwhile, Emerald walked up the familiar stone staircase, pushing past the door and out a long hallway, until she arrived where she knew her prince would be.

In the center of the palace, the only word you could use to describe it was LIFE. LIFE was everywhere, in the statues, in the plants, in the ponds, in the fish, in the _everything_. The _least_ lively thing in the center garden -ironically- was the person sitting in front of a nearby pond. That person was clad in a black cloak, stretching down and hiding the rest of their body. A hood pulled over their head of gray hair, eyes closed and head bowed towards a small, stone tablet in front of them. "I didn't take you for the religious type." Emerald said, giving a faint smile towards the man as she stood behind him, waiting for him to stand. She knew he would soon -he never liked sitting still for so long.

He sighed, black eyes opening to gaze longingly at the tablet. "Two hours of meditation… not a damn thing." he muttered, slowly standing up, pulling the hood away from him to expose his silvery locks to the green-ette (is this even a word?… guess it is now). He turned, his eyes gazing over Emerald for a few seconds before he walked forward, grabbing her wrist. "Let's get out of here." he said, striding past as Emerald struggled to keep up with him. While the inner garden the two fled from screamed LIFE, everything around it, seemed to scream DEATH, as if in defiance. Swords, shields, suits of armor, arrows, bows, muskets, tools of death and warfare painted the palace walls as the prince guided his concubine to his bedroom.

When he pushed open the door, Emerald stepped aside, watching as he tossed his cloak aside, pulling off his brown shirt before he walked over, grabbing out his closet what looked to be a pair of women's pants and a shirt, both made of the same, dark-brown material. "Get dressed, I'll wait outside." he said, shoving past Emerald. Emerald wasted no time in disrobing, tossing her dress aside before slipping on the brown fabric. It was familiar to her, the same fabric worn by the poor fishermen of Mistral. After all, her father _had_ been one. She stepped outside, finding her prince a few feet away, looking down over her new attire. Emerald smirked, "Like what you see?~" she asked, lightly tugging at her shirt, one that only really reached down to her belly.

Mercury chuckled, pulling down on a nearby torch. The palace was filled with secrets, and Mercury knew them all. The familiar secret passage opened up as he grabbed Emerald's hand, "About as much as I normally do." he said simply, pulling her inside and shutting the passage behind them. Then Mercury turned, following the torches along the walls down the stone path as Emerald came with him. She knew of the passage of course, but she didn't really know where it led. Mercury had never taken her down it before after all. As they walked, Emerald began to get her first clues as to where it would let out: Those clues being the scent of salt and the soft sand between her toes.

After only a few minutes Emerald found their way ending in a solid stone wall -one that Mercury effortlessly pushed aside to reveal the blinding sun before them. When her eyes adjusted, Emerald's eyes widened as they drank in what lay before them. There they stood at the edge of a large lagoon, water clear enough to see every little thing near the bottom, a brilliant blue compared to the dark abyss near the reef's mouth. The two stepped out onto the beach, Mercury leading the starry-eyed Emerald towards what looked to be a small dock along the side. "What is this place?" she asked, turning her head as if to drink in more of her surroundings, like a thirsty beggar in Vacuo.

Mercury looked ahead, giving a faint smile as they approached the dock. "It's _supposed_ to be an emergency escape for the royal families. You know, in case the palace ever gets invaded. I figured I'd have a little fun since no one else is using it." he said, smirking as he guided the two onto the dock. Emerald turned, raising an eyebrow as she saw what Mercury was leading her towards. Rather than the small schooner size ships on the edge of the shore, what was docked looked to be a raft suspended over two canoes, with a sail right between them on two sticks. Emerald didn't know what to think as Mercury stepped on, holding out a hand and gesturing for her to do the same. She took a step back, frowning down at him, "Mercury… you _know_ I-"

"Trust me, Emerald. It'll be okay."

As she boarded, he grabbed a few ropes she'd not noticed before, untying a knot keeping it moored before pulling back on the strings, the strange sail extending out into the breeze. Emerald sat down, cross-legged, and watched Mercury pulled back on the ropes, guiding them into the edge of the lagoon. "What even _is_ this thing?" she asked. Considering she'd had no maritime experience whatsoever (unlike the prince next to her) it was understandable Emerald would have never heard of the device she now found herself seated on. Mercury nodded, "It's called a double-hulled canoe. I modeled it after the ones the faunus tribes used before the kingdoms started colonizing the isles." he said simply, turning them away from the ocean and back into a loop around the lagoon.

Emerald nodded, giving a faint smile as she leaned back, watching Mercury pulling back on the sails. "You're pretty good at this." she said, watching him effortlessly guiding them along the lagoon. Mercury looked down, giving a rare, cocky smirk towards his servant before he folded the sail down, leaving them in the center of the lagoon. "I'm not _terrible_ at this actually, if I was good I'd be able to get us to Atlas on this thing." he said, sitting down and dipping his legs in the water, laying back towards Emerald. Red eyes met black ones before the two shared a chuckle, both looking up towards the sky for a moment. Though, the small smile on Mercury's face slowly turned back into his normal, stoic expression, a sigh slipping past his lips.

"What's the point?"

"Hmm?" Emerald asked, sitting up and looking down at the shirtless prince next to her. He hadn't bothered to look at her, given no indication of even realizing she'd heard him. Yet he continued on regardless, as if completely unbothered. "What's the point of all this? Same thing, day after day, same damn walls, same damn ceiling, same people, no _life_. That whole palace is just _there_. Existing… nothing changes. Nothing shifts… it's all so boring…" he muttered, leaning back. He turned his head, his eyes slipping over Emerald's form for a moment before red met black again, a faint smile finding it's way to his face. "Least you change. Not much but, at least-"

 **SPLASH!**

"HEY!" Mercury said, shaking his head of the water as Emerald laughed, standing up on the raft. She laid a hand on her hip, smirking down at him with the familiar confidence she'd learned as a thief. "That enough change for yoOOOU!" Emerald nearly yelped as she felt the raft shifting, Mercury reaching up and wrapping her waist in one arm, her hands immediately wrapping around his neck as she glared up at him, annoyance and anger hiding her fear. "You _know_ I can't swim! Why would you- EEH!" Emerald squealed as she felt herself sinking lower (mostly on part of Mercury who'd stopped treading water for a second). Mercury smirked over at her, the girl looking away and glaring off towards the sand. "I could've drowned you know." she said.

"Like I'd let that happen." Mercury said, smirking over at her as Emerald leaned over his shoulder -mostly to hide the small pout that had formed on her lips. Mercury pulled them back towards the canoe, laying an arm onto it as he held Emerald with the other, said girl wasting no time laying her arms on the side. Mercury copied her, both arms on the side as he looked over his shoulder at the girl. "Remind me how you grew up here _not_ knowing how to swim?" he asked. He would admit, it was mostly to get a reaction out of her than actual curiosity. He knew the answer. Emerald glared at him before she looked away, "I grew up in the slums, the closest thing to 'swimming' was dumpster diving." she said simply.

Mercury moved a hand over, laying it on her shoulder. Emerald wouldn't look at him. "Hey come on Em, you know I'd never let anything happen to you." he said, still smiling towards the back of her head. Emerald didn't turn around, still looking off in that same direction. He chuckled, pulling himself up onto the raft and smiling down at the side of her face, the girl unable to _fully_ turn away due to the whole 'not being able to swim' thing. "Hey, you pulled me off first." he said. Emerald flashed her eyes at Mercury for a moment before she pulled herself onto the raft, looking over at him. "Yeah, but you can swim a mile. I can't even _sink_ that far." she said. Mercury couldn't help the chuckle that slipped past his lips, leaning back onto the raft again. Emerald did the same, laying by his side.

He looked over, giving her a faint smile, "You know, it's days like this that make me glad my dad didn't hang you." he said. Emerald returned the smile -despite the oddity of the statement- leaning over to better look towards Mercury. She gave him a cocky smirk, holding out a hand between them. "Well, I better give you plenty of days like this in that case." she said. Mercury gave the smirk right back, wrapping one of his hands in hers. The two sat like that for awhile, the smirks slowly settling back into smiles as both turned to face the sky, their hands flying to their faces as they saw the sun rising above them. "Too bad… we've gotta go back." he said, standing up and readying to sail back to the dock.

Emerald nodded, sitting upright and looking out towards the dock as the two approached. As Mercury moored them, Emerald made it no secret she wanted off, jumping onto the dock within seconds. Mercury only smiled, calmly stepping off the boat and onto the dock. He held out his arm the way most nobles did. "Shall we?" he asked. Now, most women would've gladly taken the gesture to mean the prince was courting them, and desired a deeper relationship.

Emerald, was _not_ most women.

Rather, she took it as it was -a sarcastic gesture- and simply slapped his arm away, walking ahead of him. "As _if_." she said. Mercury chuckled -not only at the irony of his own concubine refusing him- but at the fact Emerald knew him just that well at this point. That she knew exactly when he wanted her to be sarcastic… "You keep me this entertained I might just have to marry you." he said, his voice laden with sarcasm. Emerald looked over her shoulder, giving a faint smirk and a wink.

"Guess I better learn to be boring."


	8. What? Thought this was about Weiss?

Chapter eight: More than a name

( **a/n- normal English to Italian Translator is under maintenance, having to use a secondary translator. Pardon the likely incorrect (it was probably wrong anyway) translations)**

Neo was… _really_ starting to regret her previous decisions that lead her here.

'Here', in this case, being held in the iron grip of one Neon Katt, with Penny sitting a few feet away holding a wicked curved blade. That alone would be strange if not for the _reason_ they were like this. That reason? It wasn't the strange, ancient runes scribbled onto the ring around the porthole, nor the ones around the door. It wasn't the fact that the door itself was flung in, leaving a clear line of the sight to the hallway. No, rather, it was the GIANT F-ING FISH MONSTER WITH GLOWING RED EYES STARING THEM DOWN!

Now, that in and of _itself_ would be both strange and crap-your-pants terrifying. However, the _real_ strangeness (and crap-your-pants terrifying-ness) of this horrid night came from _where_ the monster had come from, or rather, _what_ the monster actually was. Explaining how this had happened would _not_ be an easy task.

Of course, neither was _believing_ it.

…

"Cap'n! The moon!"

"I _know_ Duni!" Jaune yelled, giving a faint glare towards the twin on the Crow's nest. He didn't need him to _tell_ him the moon was almost fully shattered, he could _see_ that… _very_ clearly. For crying out loud the moon took up most of the damn _sky_ tonight! Duni laid back into the crow's nest, no doubt about to go to sleep as Jaune let out a yawn, slamming his trusty wooden pole into the steering wheel, keeping them on the course Penny had set for Mistral earlier. He knew they wouldn't make it by the shattering, but he also knew he had a problem… a _big_ problem. That problem consisted of two women -a mute and a cat faunus- currently in his quarters. He started heading down, ways to explain the situation of tomorrow night running through his head.

" _Let's see, I could say it's a ceremonial thing? Long-time crew members only? No, wait, that won't work, then they might ask what it is and not believe me. Hmm… just tell them not to come out? Wait, how would I explain the runes? And at least ONE of them has to hold the dagger… I guess I COULD ask Penny to stay with them since she has to stay up anyway, make up something about her wanting the dagger around. Then again, Penny can't keep her mouth shut, they'll know soon enough… maybe I should just tell them, explain it for what it is. If only that would WORK! Dammit! Even_ _ **I**_ _wouldn't believe it! And I've been PART of this damn thing for years!_ " he thought, pressing his hands against his head to suppress a growing headache.

Of course, he knew they'd find out _eventually_ -there was _eventually_ going to be a shattering while they were onboard. He just wished he had more time. Time to think of an excuse, time to make them understand what the issue was, just _time_. All he wanted was more _time_! Then again, with the shattering just a nightfall away, time was a luxury he both didn't have, and couldn't really afford. He looked up, frowning as he saw the door in front of him… he wasn't ready. He wasn't ready to tell them, and he was _damn_ sure they weren't ready to hear it. He took a breath, slowly opening the door. When he got his head through the crack, he couldn't help but smile at the scene before him.

There was Neo, laying against Neon's shoulder, her eyes shut and her breathing somewhat even. Meanwhile, Neon was snuggled against her, curled up like a kitty with a faint purring noise coming from her throat as her arms encircled Neo, her tail wrapping up around her as Neo hugged back. Both were laying in his bed, the covers pulled back over them to reveal Neo in the little nightgown of hers. Neon… was just in bright blue underwear. " _What is it with feline faunus and hating clothes?_ " he thought, unable to stop the parallel forming between the seemingly innocent Neon and the very, _very_ perverted Appi. He knew the two were nothing alike (at least, he _hoped_ they weren't) yet still… it was there. He shook his head, ridding himself of the strangely thought-provoking conundrum, occupying himself with quietly stripping down to his boxers, setting his clothes next to his chair.

" _Andare a dormire?_ (Going to sleep?)"

"GAH!" Jaune exclaimed, jumping back and falling his chair. He looked over, brilliant green eyes glowing from over Neo, gazing at him curiously. He saw her tilt her head, laying a finger on her chin as her face became more and more quizzical as she looked over him. Jaune slowly stood, nodding a few times as he set his clothes back to normal. " _Sì… spiacente per il risveglio voi._ (Yeah… sorry for waking you)." he said, about to sit in his chair. Before he could, Neon held out a hand, motioning him over. He complied, raising an eyebrow as he stood over the two, the taller Neon giving him a faint smile. " _Prossimo e… abbraccio con noi?_ (Come and… cuddle with us?)" she said, her face tinged pink as she imitated Penny. Jaune looked down for a few moments, Neon thinking how tempting it was to hide behind Neo and pretend to be asleep before, finally, Jaune spoke.

" _Approvazione._ (Okay.)" he said, Neon holding up Neo as Jaune slipped into bed, pulling the covers over them. Neo didn't migrate much, only slowly moving over to cuddle with Jaune, as if finding his presence a bit more appealing than Neon's (which was strange, given her subconscious mind's affinity for Appi's tail). Neon frowned as she saw Jaune smiled, moving Neo over him. She thought, if only for a moment, that she would be left out of this 'cuddling' that Penny had seemed so fond of. That thought was quickly dashed when he moved her over, having her hugging his other side. He held out an arm, his face pinker than Neon's tail. " _Uh… avete voluto stringere a sé?_ (You uh… wanted to cuddle?)" he said. Neon looked at him for a few moments before she slowly nodded.

Of course, Neon didn't know _much_ about cuddling (baring the few minutes she'd spent in Jaune and Penny's embrace earlier) though, if it was something she'd be expected to do so often, she figured she may as well learn now. She slowly moved over, Jaune sitting there patient, awkwardly holding out his arm as Neon inched her way across the bed. When she could finally feel Jaune's chest, she felt his arm come down, a brief flash of panic crossing her mind at someone touching her back. She took a few seconds to freeze, looking back to tell her tired mind it was just Jaune's hand, and _not_ a captain's bullwhip. She turned back, leaning in closer, her arm awkwardly moving over Jaune's chest, trailing past and reaching over to grasp his side, just above Neo's little arms. She moved an arm beneath his neck, wrapping around and hoisting herself up a bit so that her leg draped over his.

" _È… è questo mas giusto - er… Jaune?_ (Is… is this okay mas -er… Jaune?)" she said, feeling her face burning at the close contact. She'd never been this close with anyone unless… Neon quickly decided to squash those thoughts down before they tainted this new thing with Jaune. " _È appena giusto…, fa qualunque volete, Neon._ (It's okay… just, do whatever you want, Neon)." he said, giving that familiar disarming smile of his. Neon smiled back, leaning down towards the crook of his neck, nuzzling in as close to the warmth as she could, a faint purring moving from her throat. The warmth, the closeness, the feeling of Jaune and Neo both close to her, the sense that both _actually_ cared more about her than what she could do for them… she wasn't sure if that was even true but, she could hope… and she did. For the first time in years, she let herself have a faint, sliver of hope. " _I could… get used to this…_ " she thought, letting her mind wander toward sleep.

Meanwhile, Jaune smiled down at the sleepy cat-girl and the already asleep mute one. Looking at the two of them now… knowing what they'd have to see tomorrow… " _No… let's not think about that now… enjoy tonight, THEN worry about tomorrow._ " he thought to himself, laying his chin on Neon's head, rubbing against his pillow as he prepared to fall asleep himself. He knew he should tell them, he knew he should've told Neo before she _ever_ agreed to be part of this, even when he _did_ think she was still an assassin. But now, looking at the two sleeping beauties on either of his arms, seeing the content smiles on their faces… he couldn't help but smile back. "It can wait…" he muttered.

" _I'll enjoy tonight… it'll probably be the last._ "

…

Neo couldn't remember falling asleep.

She couldn't really remember waking up either. She just knew that she was laying there, nuzzled against Jaune, and that she didn't want it to be over. She was comfortable, she was warm, but above all, she was _safe_. It was the kind of safe she hadn't felt since she'd left home, the kind of safe where the world could be going to hell around her, but she wouldn't care. She wouldn't care, because _this_ was what mattered to her, everything that mattered to her was right at hand. She slowly looked up, both eyes turning white as she saw Jaune's sleeping face turn to face her, a little smile of content set on his lips. She wrapped her arms tighter, nuzzled further against him as she let her leg curl around his own, trying to pull him closer and closer. She wanted that feeling to be stronger, she wanted to be embraced by him, wanted him to pull her closer and wrap her in that fuzzy warmth she loved so much.

She saw a hand slowly trail over his side, lightly touching her own. She looked at it, and in that moment if she could cut that damn hand off she would. It was trying to take that warmth away, the safety away. She'd only just stopped herself from stabbing her fingernails into said hand when she stopped and thought… who else was here? There was Jaune, her… was it Penny or Neon? She saw the cat tail waving like a banner over a conquered fortress just a second later… Neon it was. She couldn't help the twinge of guilt as she leaned closer to Jaune. She'd almost hurt her because she had the nerve to… to what? To be there? To be next to Jaune like she was? Didn't she deserve to feel this same warmth she did? Did there being more people somehow mean less enjoyment for her? She stayed down, pulling closer and smiling as she felt Jaune's arm wrap tighter around her, pulling her closer. She wanted it to last, to last forever so she never had to go on another raid, never do another dish, cut another vegetable, _anything_. She wanted to stay in this moment…

But of course, life doesn't work that way.

She got ten minutes, at most, before Jaune slowly started moving, his face twisting with the manner of a man waking up. Neo didn't even think when she leaned up, letting her lips brush against his cheek, just a bit. She buried her face in his side, suddenly turning pink… she wasn't really sure _why_ but, she knew she'd just done something embarrassing. She fought back the groan from her throat as Jaune moved his hand, but felt it replaced with a smile when she felt his hand moved over her head. She pressed against it more, suddenly feeling stupid for making fun of her sister for liking this all these years. "Hehe… guess Appi's not the only one that likes being pet." Jaune muttered, his voice still a whisper. There was no way he didn't know she wasn't asleep, but maybe… maybe Neon was? If she was…

She pulled back, white eyes gazing up at Jaune as she moved her arms back (albeit _very_ reluctantly) before she started her conversation. " _I don't remember sleeping next to you._ " she signed. Jaune's face tinged pink, a nervous, quiet chuckle coming from his lips as she looked away, taking his other hand (assumingly from Neon) and rubbing the back of his head. "Well… you and Neon were cuddling in bed and, Neon asked me to cuddle. So I… well... cuddled with both of you… should I, refrain from that in the future?" he asked, _highly_ aware of how awkward he sounded. Neo's response was to lean closer to him, mouthing the words she'd have said if she could speak: 'Hug me tighter'. Jaune understood, slowly nodding as he took his hand from the back of his head, turning and fully embracing the smaller girl as she buried her head in his chest, pulling her hands back and letting them press flat against his chest, just next to her head.

She could feel his warmth positively _radiating_ now, a blanket around her. She smiled, pressing herself against him, making her little body as little as possible. She looked up, white eyes meeting blue. She felt her smile getting wider, 'Thank you.' she mouthed. Jaune understood perfectly, mouthing a 'You're welcome.' in response. Neo leaned back against him, a nearly stupid smile on her face as she treasured the warmth of the ship's acting captain. She didn't know how long they stayed like this, she didn't _care_ how long they stayed like this… she just knew she was pissed when it ended. She heard the sound of a yawn as the orange-haired cat faunus raised up, hands stretching up towards the ceiling for a moment before she looked down, smiling at Neo.

Neo forced a smile, not wanting to be rude, but cling still tighter to Jaune, a smug grin tugging at her lips the moment she leaned back against his skin. She felt like she'd just won something, some sort of unspoken war had begun between the two, one she wasn't even sure was _real_ … yet, she couldn't bring herself _not_ to feel smug a the taller cat-girl. Her thoughts were interrupted as Jaune sat up, pulling her with him. She was sat on his lap, looking up to see his face just a few inches away from her. White eyes met blues ones… she waited… she waited… why was she waiting? She knew she was waiting for something, that there was _something_ she wanted to happen but, for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what that _was_. Jaune smiled, "Time to get ready Neo." he said.

She nodded, her face flushing red as she stood. She could feel her heart beating faster as she stood, walking over to her and Neon's clothes, both set aside from last night. She didn't know why but, she just felt so _embarrassed_ about what had just happened. She wasn't even sure what she _wanted_ to happen and yet, she felt like Jaune had just walked in on her while she was bathing or something of the like. Her mouth knit itself into a frown as she grabbed her clothes… what had she been waiting for? She knew that was the key to why she was embarrassed… why did the reason escape her? She looked over her shoulder, setting her face back into a neutral expression as she looked at Jaune. She saw Neon slowly standing, padding out past him like a cat, her tail rubbing against his shoulder.

She wasn't even aware of what she'd done when she saw her nightgown crumble next to her, her pink underwear exposed as she grabbed her clothes. She saw Jaune's eyes on her, face burning… though, he stayed silent. She pulled on her clothes, watching as Neon did the same, simply slipping the short skirt and top over her flesh while Neo took so much time pulling her clothes on. Meanwhile, Jaune just stared ahead, his face a light pink but… contemplative. Neo could almost _see_ the gears in his mind turning as he slowly stood, fluid movements as he pulled his own clothes on from nearby. Neon and Jaune exchanged a few words in Mistralean, but of course, the meaning was lost on Neo. Though, she'd seen enough people in Mistral to know the body language of simple pleasantries.

Neon was leaning against the table, simply watching as Neo and Jaune finished dressing, both of them having to put on _far_ more layers than Neon's simple clothing. Jaune turned, regarding the two with a frown. His eyes took on that strange, contemplative gaze again before he spoke, Mistralean words directed at Neon. She slowly nodded, her face growing more and more confused as Jaune spoke as if he'd slipped into Valish while he was speaking. Of course, if he had, Neo would know it. All she could hear was a bunch of scrambled syllables that made _no_ sense to her. After a few minutes of speaking and gesturing to the porthole, door, and his desk, Jaune finally turned to her.

"Neo, I… well, this isn't going to be easy to explain so, bear with me." he took a breath, "Tonight's the shattering -when the moon is fully shattered and nearly invisible- and, I need you and Neon to both stay here with Penny, okay? We're going to make some runes around the door so that nothing bad happens. Try and be asleep as early as you can, okay?" he finished. Now Neo understood _perfectly_ why Neon had looked so confused. What was Jaune going on about? The shattering? Penny coming over? Runes on the door? Be asleep early? What was going on? Jaune seemed to read her mind, shaking his head, "Look, I know it makes no sense but, just _trust_ me, okay? Whatever you do, _don't_ leave this room after dusk." he said. His eyes… were they always this tired and she'd never noticed? Or perhaps there was something about tonight that was weighing on him, something he didn't want them to find out.

She nodded, " _Ok._ " she signed, giving him a smile. He let out a small sigh of relief, walking over and wrapping his arms around her. Neo felt her smile widen… only to fade when he walked over and did the same thing to Neon. Jaune started walking towards the deck, the two women following him, Neo occasionally casting glances at Neon. She saw the girl's eyes wander over Jaune's back, over the back of his neck as she slowly walked closer, holding up her hands to -"OOF!" Neon said, staggering back a bit as Neo stumbled into her. Jaune looked back, looking between the two for a moment before turning around, a small smile on his face. " _Least I'm not the ONLY clumsy one around here._ " he thought, unaware of what had really transpired.

Meanwhile, Neo gave a glare towards Neon. It was small and offset by an apologetic smile, but it was there as she stumbled into her, it was there even as she looked up at her. She wasn't sure what power had compelled her to do it, but she couldn't say she regretted it. It felt… oddly satisfying to the young woman. Meanwhile, Neon tried to hide her confusion. Why had Neo just effectively shoved her away? Had she done something to upset the little woman? Had she missed the part where she'd said something Neo found upsetting? She saw the smile, but the glare sent a shiver down her spine. She'd seen it before, _far_ more times than she'd have liked. It told her she'd done something wrong… what that something _was,_ she really wasn't sure. All she'd been doing was looking at Jaune, giving a faint smile as she thought about…

" _Oh._ "

Neon could think of plenty of reasons the little woman would be so protective of Jaune. He could have saved her, they could be related, they could be closer than she'd first thought, etc. Yet, the way she'd acted, the sheer malice held in that glare… " _Does she… see me as a threat?_ " she thought. Being perceived as anything more than an object or a tool was something Neon didn't think she'd ever get used to. To be perceived as a _threat_? That was something she'd never even thought _possible_. How could she threaten her at _all_? " _Okay, not a big deal Neon, just have Jaune explain that… wait, why should I care?_ " she thought, feeling her eyes hardening. " _Why should I have to answer to her? She's not my master -NO ONE'S my master anymore! If she doesn't like me being around Jaune, that's HER problem!"_ she thought, turning and glaring back at Neo.

Neo almost hid her flinch as the normally cuddly and docile feline stared her down, but Neon made _no_ attempt to hide the vindictive, prideful smirk on her face. It felt good, _oh_ it felt good to the faunus. She turned, eyes focused dead center on Neo as she wrapped her arms around Jaune's neck, pulling him back towards her and nuzzling into his neck. She saw Neo's eyes both turn brown, her teeth set on edge as Neon just smirked, gazing at her out of the corner of her eye as Jaune reached around, patting her head. " _I'm not scared of you, you can't make me do anything!_ " was the message she thought she was sending with that gesture.

To Neo, it was _very_ different.

Neo didn't see a proud feline asserting her free will, but rather one asserting her right over Jaune. The message she heard was more along the lines of: " _No one cuddles with him but ME._ ". She composed herself when Jaune turned around, only shrugging as the two exchanged words in Mistralean. Oh, she _wished_ she could understand them and shout just what had happened! She wished she could yell at Neon and tell her… tell her… what exactly? To back off? To leave Jaune alone… no, she knew what she wanted. She didn't want Jaune to be left alone, she still wanted Jaune with someone… just not Neon. She walked in front of Jaune, not even hesitating to jump onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck as her face sat on his shoulder. She glared at Neon, her own smirk vindictive and possessive. Both women could sense the challenge, and Neon's glare was her answer.

" _Wow… these two are REALLY clingy today…_ " Jaune thought, utterly oblivious to the mental war going on between the two women practically attached to him. He was fine wrapping his arms around Neo, of course, fine letting Neon nuzzle against his neck too, but it was still _strange_. The two normally didn't do this when they were awake, or even when they were really _asleep_ for that matter. Neo had only wanted him to hug her tighter when she was awake, and Neon had actively asked him to cuddle with her (granted, he attributed that more to not knowing what it meant and having just met Penny than anything else). He welcomed it though, slowed down his walking and wrapped his arms tight around Neo. It was a nice distraction for what would have to come tonight. He _really_ hoped they took his warning seriously.

Neo and Neon finally got off of him when they went out onto the deck, the two passing glares at one another: Both touchy about free-will, but in _very_ different ways. The trio walked up to the main deck, the sun high in the sky as Jaune took his place behind the wheel. He wasn't terribly focused on it, only turning it slightly with the waves. The seas were almost disturbingly calm, as they always were around the Arkos before a shattering, and they'd seemingly hit a patch of doldrums. The sun falling came too soon, just after he'd gotten back from supper it seemed. Far, _far_ too soon. He didn't want it to be nightfall yet, he wanted _time_. Penny walked up from her station beneath the wheel. While Neo and Neon may not have known Penny for _long_ , both could tell something was off by the blade she was holding.

That blade seemed to be made of ivory, with a wicked curve along it toward the edge, holes in the center and a hilt darker than the night itself. Jaune had to resist the urge to flinch away from the blade, his skin crawling when he saw it. Penny looked at him for a few moments before he nodded, "I know, I know… come on, let's go." he said. Without another word, he and Penny started walking. Neon and Neo quickly followed, the two pushing against each other and glaring all the while, still blissfully unaware of what the other was thinking, mostly since the only person that could actually talk to _both_ of them on the ship (as far as they knew) was Jaune himself, and _neither_ of them intended on bringing their squabble to his attention. Neon because this was a matter she took _very_ personally, and Neo because… to put it bluntly, it was out of embarrassment.

The four arrived at Jaune's quarters rather quickly, Neo sitting on the bed as Neon took the chair. Penny quickly stabbed her wicked blade into the desk, the ivory surface glinting evilly in the light. She opened a few desk drawers, pulling out a few pieces of white chalk and a strange looking book. The book seemed to be a tome made of sewn together flesh rather than parchment, the strange image of a face printed on the front of it. Penny opened it without hesitation, copying out some strange, archaic writings from it and writing them around the porthole. Jaune was doing the same exact thing, but with two key differences. One, he wasn't wasn't the tome to look at them. Two, he wasn't using chalk.

Rather than using a piece of chalk from his desk, Jaune had gently grasped the ivory blade, wincing as the blood started pooling in his left palm. With his right index finger he drew, arcane symbols even stranger than the ones Penny made. Yet it seemed no matter how many he drew, even as he neared the edge of the door, his hand never seemed to stop bleeding. When Penny was finished with hers and set it down, he walked over to the porthole, soaking his finger and letting the blood drain into the chalk which -defying _all_ logic Neo and Neon knew- simply soaked it up and stayed there, even solidifying. Then he reached over, painting an even stranger series of words in his blood on the window. He laid his hand on it, breaking physics once again as the blood flowed outward, sticking to the glass and coating it in a near black coat, with the dark red letters standing out clearly:

" _Video sed non credo._ "

He stepped back, blood still dripping from his hand as he walked towards the door. He stopped before it, reaching up and setting his hat and weapons down on his desk with his clean hand. He then proceeded to wrap his hand in a bandage from one of his desks many drawers, stripping down to his boxers before walking to the door. To Neo and Neon's surprise, he walked out and came back with a bucket, one Penny took and set toward the corner. She turned to them, "If you have to use the bathroom, head out now. _Se dovete usare il bagno, ora diriga fuori._ " she said, translating for Neon. Neo looked up at the taller girl, who simply shook her head. Neither of them had to go and, frankly, even if they _did_ they more than likely wouldn't after what they'd just seen.

Jaune walked over to Penny, giving her a faint smile before they wordlessly embraced. Neo couldn't hear what Penny said, and Neon could but, didn't understand Valish to know. To Jaune's ears though, it was crystal clear: "Please don't die.". He only leaned back, giving a slight smirk before he turned, nearly shutting the door before tossing his boxers in, Neo and Neon looking down, _very_ confused as to why Jaune had seemingly just run off naked into the ship. Penny sat down, holding her hands over her blade before pushing it deeper into the desk, shoving it harder each time. "You two better go to sleep, better do that hear what comes next. _Due migliori andate a dormire, meglio fate che cosa verrà dopo._ " she translated.

The two slowly stood, Neo changing into her nightwear with an almost robotic motion, Neon doing the same as she stripped down. Their brief spite forgotten for the moment, the two were only more and more confused. What were those symbols? Why were they being told not to leave the room? Why had Jaune left a bucket and his clothes with them?

Just what the hell was going on?

…

"Hmm… the one night a month I'm not the odd one out."

"Not a good time Appi." Jaune said, glaring at the naked faunus next to him. She wasn't the only one, not by a _long_ shot. Almost every member of the crew was up here, and only some of the older crew members even wore black robes to cover themselves. Those like himself and Appi though? They just walked around in their birthday suits. He walked up to the deck, looking around at his mostly naked crew. "Alright, everyone! Tonight's the shattering! Stand near the edge of the bow and be ready to jump when we reached the lost city!" he yelled out. He could feel his heart pumping faster, his blood near boiling as he waited. He could feel his flesh squirming, something writhing just beneath his skin. He didn't even need to _see_ the moon to know it was tonight. The crew all nodded, dashing towards the edges, some of them with their feet already on the sides as the sun went down in the distance.

Jaune himself walked over toward the bow, standing on the edge of it. "EEP!" he yelped, his face burning as he felt a cold hand running over his behind. He looked over, glaring as he saw Appi lean against his back, a smirk on her face. "What? I never get the chance otherwise." she said. Jaune refrained from explaining just how wrong she was by turning around, ignoring the woman's bare breasts pressing into his back. Behind him, the moon slowly rose over the horizon, the waves suddenly stopped, as if the whole world were waiting. Then, Jaune felt it. He felt his feet seemingly glued to the spot, unable to move even an inch. His body became stone as he saw the ship lurch, yet felt not a thing.

Suddenly, he saw the briny depths flying up to meet him.

He heard the rush of water going past him but felt not a drop, his face blank as the ship itself shot down like a bullet toward the bottom of the sea, angled with the bow almost straight down. He saw the waves rushing by, almost obscuring his vision of what awaited them… almost. What he saw was a dark green portal, resting at the bottom of the sea floor. It was the same portal he'd seen every shattering, yet always in a different place. That place, of course, was wherever the Cursed Arkos happened to be. He saw them suddenly fly right through it, and felt the ship slow down. He stepped back, finally able to move as he leaned down. He looked down, his face twisting into a frown as he saw his hands.

Or rather, his _claws_.

Turning to look around, he saw that most members of the crew had undergone a similar transformation to himself. Brilliant red eyes shining out from all of them, some with long tentacles instead of legs, some with mermaid tails, some even with shark fins. Of course, that was _nothing_ compared to the older ones. The older members were ones that had been through so many shatterings, their bodies had seemed stuck between them if you were to ever peel back their clothes. Yet now, they stood exposed, black clothes tossed away to reveal the hideous machinations they were, the writhing masses of tentacles and mouths that made up their being, the bulging eyes that seemed to sprout from almost everywhere. They had none of the symmetry of himself and some of the youngers, nor their intellect, but _more_ than made up for it in their savagery.

Jaune himself, however, had undertaken a relatively mild transformation by the crew's standards. His skin was scaled, his nails were claws, his teeth now the jagged points of a shark. He'd easily grown six inches, both feet and legs stretched to absurd proportions, his feet practically fins as he stretched out his hands, webbing between his fingers slowly filling in at last. Upon his head where there once rested flaxen hair was now a grayed fin, sharp and pointed spines sticking up like a mohawk against his light turquoise scales. His glowing red eyes gazed about the sea, watching as the ship sailed through massive structures the likes of which no normal human had ever seen, or hopefully ever _would_ see, structures that towered above the floor on which they were built, strangely curved backward in ways that shouldn't have been possible. Brilliant green light slipped from cracks in the ground, and fish and fish-people and all sorts of other things swam in abundance.

R'lyeh. The ancient city hidden just beneath the ocean floor, sealed far away from the human eyes. The ancient city was familiar to his crew, a place they'd call a hunting ground when they couldn't rightly hunt in reality. It was a bitch to get those spells done beforehand, but it was always worth it. This place was _teeming_ with prey that none of them had to worry about having lives, families, souls, nothing that humans did when they raided out of desperation. This place was in part a game reserve, and they were here to _hunt_. Jaune needed not to give the order to hunt, for the transformed crew had already gone off in search of them. He leaped off the side of the ship himself, swimming after a tiger shark he saw brushing against a window. He knew they had little time here, so he made it count. He pushed off the side of the ship, powerful strokes propelling a clawed hand into the sharp in seconds.

Sharp teeth instinctively chomped on the beasts hide, pulling it apart to get at the meat inside. He couldn't say he'd remember much about his feedings, but the first strike and taste were always there. The strong flavor and hide of a tiger shark, the weak but good flavor of a fish person, even the slippery eels. He wasn't full, he'd never _really_ been full, but he knew damn well when their time was running low. He swam back for the ship, stopping near the edge. He saw older crew members wrapping tendrils around great white sharks, ripping into them and pulling them into their flesh. " _ROOOOOOOOOOOO!_ " he sent out a pulse of loud sonar, telling his crew to hurry the hell up. R'lyeh wasn't _just_ a game reserve, though that was what they most often used it for.

Jaune could feel the vibrations in the water, sense the overwhelming dread as he sent out the pulse again, more rapidly this time. They had to go, _NOW_. He swam back to the steering wheel, looking over at the runes had carved into it himself, stained with the blood of his human and fish forms. He grabbed the wheel, looking over to see one of the older ones pushing towards them, a half-devoured shark just behind them. He looked behind, eyes wide as he suddenly saw the _massive_ tendril grasp at the sharp, pulling it down toward the depths. He sent out the pulse three times, telling everyone to brace themselves, that he was leaving with, or _without_ them. The older one he saw finally swam on board, grasping onto the mast. R'lyeh wasn't just a game reserve, but also an ancient prison.

And the warden was _not happy_ about them breaking in.

He saw the tendrils clasping onto bent buildings, wings rising up as dark, red eyes showed themselves from the darkness. " _HOPE EVERYONE'S ON BOARD!_ " Jaune yelled in his thoughts as he slammed the runes, suddenly frozen in place. He could not, and _would_ not pick a fight with Cthulhu because one of the older crew members finally lost control of themselves. The ship suddenly shot forward, large tendrils falling behind as they neared the roof of this realm, where one world met the next. Jaune saw the portal they went through, felt it shut behind them as he saw the shattered moon in the sky above. He saw them break over the waves, saw his crew members slowly standing, a few of them gazing around with smiles and laughter (or at least, the closest transformed variants). " _That… was TOO damn close…_ " he thought, walking back to head for his own cabin.

" _Hope we didn't leave anyone behind._ "

…

Neo… was not in a good situation.

For starters, she'd woken up in the middle of the night (at least, she thought it was). She'd managed to fall asleep relatively easily, with Penny and Neon following shortly after. Yet now, she faced an issue. Her hands were pressed just below her waist, her face twisted in discomfort as she let out a little groan. She had to pee, rather badly at that. Now, of course, there _was_ the bucket Jaune had left, but it didn't help her much when she couldn't actually _find_ it. Where had Penny _put_ the damn thing? She'd looked all over the place! While she didn't want to disobey Jaune's obviously well-meaning order, she was going to have to either use the bathroom outside or risk pissing her panties before daybreak.

Then again… hard to go outside when all of it's _underwater_.

She'd opened the door, eyes slowly widening as she saw what looked to be a _wall_ of water behind the door, kept out only by the runes. She reached a hand past and, sure, her hand would easily go past the runes. Pulling it back revealed it to be wet, this was _definitely_ real water… what the hell had _happened_!? Had the ship _sunk_ while she was asleep? Was _this_ the part Jaune had meant didn't make sense? She shut the door… of course, that didn't exactly _help_ her current predicament. She started pacing back, rubbing her legs together as a faint whimper slipped past her lips. She started looking again, redoubling her efforts to find the bucket, searching around the entire room once more. Of course, she wound up with nothing. Beneath the bed? Nope. Beneath the desk?

"Looking for something?" she nearly peed herself when she jumped, turning around to see Penny looking over at her, a faint smile on her face. She was clad in a long, neon-green nightgown, a flash of black showing her panties beneath it. She nodded, a few times, experimentally signing out 'the bucket' to see if she understood. Of course, she didn't, only gazing at her with a blank look. Neo frowned before she pulled her legs together, rubbing her hands and grating them against each other, a pained look on her face as she tried to get the message across. "Ooooh, you have to use the bucket. Here." she said, reaching beneath the desk and pulling it out from her feet. She set it down next to her, and Neo was never so happy to see a damn _bucket_ in her life. She was walking towards it when she was lifted up, eyes wide as she looked up, seeing Penny there.

"I'll let you use the bucket... _if_ you don't wear anything while doing it." she said. Neo felt her face flush red as she glared back at her, trying to muscle her way from her grip. Of course, it was _Neo_ , so that worked about as well as drowning a fish. Penny simply set her aside, giving a somewhat sadistic smirk as she pulled her own pants and underwear down, sitting on the bucket. Neo shut her eyes, having to fight even more to keep from peeing herself as Penny used the bathroom just a few feet from her. "Hey, thanks for waiting. Now strip down and you can use it." she said, not moving an inch. Neo glared at her, trying to take a few steps, only for her bladder to slow her down, keeping her from moving fast at all. Penny frowned, quickly walking past Neo, opening the door, tossing the bucket's contents into the ocean outside, before setting it in the far corner of the room.

Then, she picked Neo up, laying her down on the bed. Neo couldn't struggle, focusing all her efforts on not peeing the bed like she was a little girl again. " _Hmmm… Che ore sono?_ (What time is it?)" Neon asked, slowly sitting up. She looked over, seeing Penny lightly holding Neo down, the girl's hands over her crotch. She was about to say something when she heard… breathing. It wasn't like any of their own, but rather a raspy, strange sort of breathing. That was followed by a sort of tapping against wood, slowly vibrating through the walls. Neo was pulled into a sitting position by Penny, the act alone almost making her let loose. All three gazed at the half-open door, watching.

" **AAAAH!** "

Penny and Neon yelled as a clawed, bloody hand slammed through the water, hitting the closing door back against the wall. Neo would have of course but, there was the aspect of she was mute. Suffice it say, it was _far_ too late for the bucket as Neo sat there, pissing Jaune's bed as Neon held her in an iron grip, both positively _mortified_ at the creature that now stood before them. The terrifying red eyes, sharp teeth, tentacles around it's feet, and overall _wrongness_ of it's looks sent shocks of dread down both women. Penny was more familiar with the creatures, but at the same time, she was nowhere _near_ immune to the shock that came from seeing one. He gripped her blade, prying it from her desk as she walked towards him. They hadn't left R'lyeh yet, so it could be pretty much _anyone..._ or any _thing_. She stabbed the blade towards them… no reaction.

Without hesitation, she cut it's head off.

She slammed the door before it could do anything else, dead-bolting it (like _that_ would do anything) and checking to make sure none of the runes had been marred. They were _not_ taking a prisoner of Cthulhu back to Remnant, NO, WAY. She walked back to her chair, sitting down before lightly cleaning off her blade of the black blood with a nearby rag. She looked over, frowning as she saw Neo and Neon still looking at the door, frozen in horror. Penny's frown got even deeper when she saw the dark stain down Neo's nightgown and on parts of the bed. "Uh… sorry. But hey! Least you know why they call it the 'Cursed Arkos' now huh? Huh… that doesn't make it better does it?" she said, deflating when Neo predictably shook her head.

Speaking of, finally able to turn her head from the door and the strangeness she'd seen, she finally looked down. She no longer felt the urge and, based on the yellowed state of the sheets and dampness of her nightgown, she understood _why_. She felt her face burn with embarrassment as she focused on that, desperate for _anything_ to get those burning eyes out of her head. Her hands clasped over her lap as she saw Neon looking down at her. She waited for the teasing (granted she wouldn't be able to understand it but, the tone would be there) she'd get from the girl that had been fighting with her earlier. While any other rival would look and see opportunity, feel a sort of obligation to tease the nearly grown woman for wetting herself… Neon felt only sympathy. She could tell Neo was scared out of her mind, and it was _clear_ to her the smaller woman was embarrassed about being the only one to pee her pants in horror.

Neo looked over, raising an eyebrow when Neon pulled the covers over the two of them, gesturing down. Neo didn't understand… that is until she saw the dark spot forming overtop them, felt the warmth on her leg and saw the brilliant red shine on Neon's face. Neon pulled the covers over, her own panties now soaked in her piss just like Neo's were in hers. Neo looked up at her, feeling her head spinning a bit as Neon just… smiled. Neo was all for nonverbal gestures… if she had to guess, this one meant 'you aren't the only one, it's okay', or some other measure of comforting her. Of course, now _both_ their underwear were soaked, Neo's nightgown was even _more_ soaked, and the bed was stained with both their urine.

"Uhh… here." Neo looked over, raising an eyebrow as she saw a naked Penny holding out two pairs of underwear and her nightgown. One pair Neo could understand but, where'd the second come from? Had she packed two? She gripped Neo's hand before she could think, stripping her down with only a bit of resistance before setting the gown over her, handing her the black panties. She said something to Neon that seemed to convince her to take the other pair. "You two take the chair. My fault you pissed yourself… I'll deal with the mess." she said, giving an apologetic smile to Neo before (assumingly) repeating the same thing in Mistralean to Neon. One thought ran through Neo's head as Penny took her place in the sopping bed.

" _How is it… that her taking our place… is the most NORMAL thing that's happened today?_ "


	9. It's been 84 years

Chapter nine: Escapes and Greetings

 **(a/n- Been a long time since I've worked on this one… let's see if I've still got it.)**

Pyrrha's blood was boiling.

She could feel it. Tonight was the shattering, the night of the transformation. The night that every crew member of the Cursed Arkos would shed their human skin, turning them into something… else.

Green eyes flickered around the upside-down room, watching as Emerald approached her, carrying a small tray. She set it down beneath her, gently picking up a slice of bread and untying the captain's gag.

Emerald gave a rare, sympathetic look, "This is all I could bring you tonight… sorry Pyrrha." the girl in question had to admit… it was nice. Not just the food, but having someone treat her like a human instead of an _animal_ like the guards and torturer. That and having someone call her by _name_ instead of 'The Dreaded Captain' or 'That red-head bitch'.

Pyrrha finished the meal (which was just a slice of bread and some vegetables) in less than a minute. If her legs weren't numb from being upside down so long they'd be quivering. It wasn't enough. Even if she hadn't transformed yet, the hunger was still there. It still gnawed at her belly, and she was forcing herself not to bite the thin, delicate… tender…

She slowly shook her head, trying to get thoughts of eating Emerald's fingers out of it. "Emerald… would you be willing to do something for me?" she asked. Said concubine raised an eyebrow, asking what it was.

Pyrrha nodded her head toward the nearby window, an action she _immediately_ regretted given the headache it brought on. "The… moon. Tonight's the shattering and I… I need to pray. Please…" she trailed off, trying to make herself look as pitiful as possible… it wasn't that hard, given her current position.

Emerald nodded a few times, "I'm not sure where the key is, but… I'll try, don't worry." frankly, Emerald didn't care for religion. No gods ever helped her, no 'divine mandated monarch' would do the crap that Mercury's father did. Though, she knew enough about religion to know it was important to some people… that and, Pyrrha likely couldn't even _stand_ , what was she going to do?

Pyrrha smiled, "Thank you… I don't know where the key is either, unfortunately." unfortunate that she couldn't help Emerald more, but at the same time. Emerald had agreed to help her… honestly, that was more than she'd expected in the first place. It was one thing for her to bring her food, but another entirely for her to effectively set her loose.

Emerald stood, walking out the way she came. She'd been in enough Mistralean prisons to know how it worked. In almost _every_ prison she'd been in (most of which she'd escaped from) the torturer would always have the key during the night. There was only one problem:

Getting it from his room while he slept.

Emerald walked down the hall, eyes flicking over the many sleeping prisoners before at last reaching a door that _wasn't_ to a cell. The wooden door with the large, metal piece for a doorknob. She grabbed it, lightly pressing against the frame so it wouldn't creak as it opened.

She leaned in, frowning as she saw the key —predictably— attached to a string around the torturer's neck. Emerald rubbed her chin… she'd stolen more _guarded_ things, sure… but this wasn't going to be easy.

She crept up to him, close enough she could smell his putrid breath. Emerald hiked up her dress a bit, covering her mouth and nose with the fabric to keep herself from gagging. She needed to be as quiet as _possible_.

The not-so-ex thief reached into her dress, into the single pocket that not even Mercury knew existed. Right beneath her bust, she'd sown that pocket in, one she used to hold the one memento from her life on the streets she'd refused to leave behind:

A small dagger.

She produced it from within her dress, fingers gently pulling at the man's string before beginning the slow, meticulous work of sawing through it without being noticed. If she was careful, she would-

"Huh? Who's there?"

Yeah… she was a bit rusty.

Emerald stepped back, eyes narrowing on the man's as she focused. He sat up, blinking a few times before rubbing his eyes, both flashing green, letting her know he was under her power. Rather than Emerald, the man was seeing the captain of the guard, glaring down at him.

Sure enough, the man shot to his feet a second later, saluting the fake captain before asking what he wanted. "I require the key to the captain's shackles! Now!" Emerald shouted, distorting the man's perception to make her voice sound like Adam's.

The man scrambled to pull the string from his neck, holding it off as Emerald took it, careful not to touch his hand. Her powers could only take her so far, what with the way human perception works.

She started walking backward, keeping her eyes on the man's until she got to the door, closing it in time with her illusion doing the same, letting out a breath. " _Way_ too close…" Emerald muttered as she walked back to Pyrrha, looking around for a moment before unlocking the woman's shackles.

Pyrrha fell with a thud, groaning as her hands remained shackled, her scarred back taking the brunt of the force. Emerald crouched, unlocking the shackles on her hands. Pyrrha pulled back, gently rubbing raw wrists with fingers that could barely feel. She held up a hand, "Can you…" Emerald didn't need her to finish.

She draped an arm beneath Pyrrha's shoulder, pulling her toward the nearby window. Pyrrha's heart pounded in her ribcage. So close… _so_ close.

"Emerald?"

The girl froze, turning slightly before letting out a sigh of relief, seeing the familiar gray-haired prince walking toward her. Pyrrha turned, gritting her teeth. A few _inches_ and she'd be close enough to transform! If only she could feel her legs she'd _jump_ for it!

Emerald smiled, "Hey Mercury. You mind helping me? She needs to see the moon to pray," she explained, gesturing to the nearby light from within. Mercury's eyes flicked between the two before he nodded. He didn't _get_ religion, but at the same time, he didn't exactly want Emerald getting in trouble for unchaining a prisoner.

Mercury approached, Pyrrha stilling herself as she watched him grab her legs, the two walking her into the light.

The second it touched her face, her whole body started to quiver.

Emerald and Mercury staggered back, eyes wide as they saw (and heard) Pyrrha's skin crack along her spine, sharp spikes protruding from it as her skin fell away, replaced by brilliant red scales. Her hair retracted into her skull, replaced by a single, bright fin of the same color. The two observers watched horrified as Pyrrha stood, her bones snapping and filling in with a strange, red substance that seemed a bit too bright to be blood.

The now eight-foot creature turned to them, her eyes now a brilliant red. Without a word she lunged forward, wrapping her clawed, webbed hand wrapping around Emerald's mouth, lifting her well over a foot off the ground.

" **Quiet."**

The demonic voice from her throat sent shivers down Mercury's spine, nearly paralyzing Emerald, the girl questioning who —or _what_ — she'd just unleashed. Mercury fought down his fear, "Let her go, Pyrrha." if he knew anything about demons (which he wrongly guessed was what he was dealing with) it was that their names usually held _some_ kind of significance over them.

" **Freedom."**

Mercury and Emerald would've found it hard to believe, but Pyrrha was just as frightened as the two of them. Frightened that Mercury would attack her, that her instincts would take over, that she would kill —and eat— the two of them before going on a rampage.

Mercury slowly nodded, "Okay… okay, follow me. I'll show you a way out, just don't hurt her." he refused to turn, keeping his eyes on the monstrous Pyrrha as he slowly backed away. The three made their way up the stairs, Emerald frozen in terror all the while, Mercury trying to think of a way to get out of this alive.

Mercury stopped at a familiar torch, slowly pulling it down to reveal the secret passage he and Emerald had used just the other day. "There, this leads outside… now put her down and leave," Mercury said, still trying to sound in control despite his fear.

" **Thank… you…"**

Pyrrha let Emerald go, the girl falling to the ground as Pyrrha dashed into the tunnel, the door sealing behind her as she followed her nose. She could smell the salty breeze at the end of the tunnel, hear the waves lapping at the sand. She was _so_ close.

As Pyrrha ran, Mercury slowly walked to Emerald, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You okay, Em?" Emerald didn't respond, rather just wrapping her arms around Mercury, shaking as her forehead fell against his shoulder. Mercury gently pulled her to her feet, guiding the two back into his quarters, one question permeating both of their minds:

" _What the hell just happened?_ "

…

"So… let me get this straight."

Yang said, leaning on the table. Most if not all the crew of her ship had gathered into the dining area —well, at least the place Yang set aside as one. She wasn't sure _what_ the original crew of the ship had used it for. Next to her were Ruby and May (to her right and left respectively) with Miltia next to her sister and Melanie by her diplomat. Past that, there was the rest of the crew, in a sort of random order.

At the end was the newly clothed faunus.

Velvet, after being pulled from the water, had been given some of Cami's clothes (given she was the only girl on the ship whose clothes would fit her). Rather than being a naked girl with two shackles, she was now clad in a black and red striped shirt, along with a pair of too-long black pants that dragged as she walked.

Yang turned to May, "This girl escaped from a group of slavers down south, got rescued by a fucking _dolphin_ , and managed to wind up on my ship somehow?" she'd have thought she was high (well, higher than usual anyway) if anyone but one of her most trusted advisors had told her that.

And May? She almost trusted her more than her sister.

May nodded, "Roughly. Hold on a second." she turned to Velvet, " _Fos dreh hi laan, Velvet?_ (What do you want, Velvet?)" there was the one thing that May wasn't sure about. Now that the girl was free (well, freeish anyway, she couldn't go anywhere on her own unless she jumped overboard), what did she want to do?

" _Dii ragnavir_."

Yang looked at May, confused as the girl frowned at her, "What did she say? What does 'Dee ragna —whatever it is— mean?" she asked. May turned to her, looking at the ground.

"Something you'll say no to…" she muttered before clearing her throat, "She wants her family, the ones captured by the-"

"We're going after them!"

May froze, blinking a few times at the captain before turning to Ruby. The girl was clad in her normal clothes (that being a black shirt, gray pants, and her signature red cloak) and had stood, fiercely glaring at the two. Even _Yang_ looked shocked, gazing at her baby sister.

Yang broke from her stupor first, "Ruby, we don't even know where her family _is_. Those slave ships could be anywhere by now." May had to agree with Yang on that one. No matter how much they wanted to help Velvet, they had to look at it logically. They couldn't just sail all of _Remnant_ looking for people the girl knew were her family.

Ruby didn't flinch, "We know she was near death isle, right? Vale banned slavery years ago, Atlas is setting up blockades trying to catch the Valkyrie raiders, Vacuo's coast is in the middle of monsoon season —there's only one place they _could_ be going!" May knew Ruby was right. Only one place that wouldn't search the slave ships (that they'd _survive_ to get to).

The one place they'd just come running from.

Yang slammed her fist on the table, "Ruby… we'll get her home. We'll get her to safety," she growled out the words, slowly rising to her feet, "but we are _not_ going back to Mistral when you _just_ murdered a man and are probably wanted by the guards!" she shouted.

Ruby didn't waiver, glaring back just as hard. The crew waited, even Velvet sensing the tension as the lilac-eyed captain stared down her silver-eyed sister. Yang's eyes flashed red, Ruby's twinkling silver as the two glared, neither willing to break contact.

So, being the diplomat, May decided to do it for them. She stood between the two, "Girls, girls! Calm down… no need to fight over this, okay? Let's all take a step back-"

"Captain! We got company!"

What had been discussed moments ago was forgotten in an instant, Yang and Ruby dashing together for the stairs the moment they heard Cami shouting. May and the rest of the crew followed suit a moment later, Velvet following the crowd (somewhat unwillingly) as they all dashed for their weapons.

When the sisters breached to the outside, both instantly relaxed. They'd come expecting a massive fleet of Atlesian frigates, or maybe a Valean galleon. What they _hadn't_ expected was the frigate sailing toward them, loaded down with more cannons than some of Yang's crew had teeth. The jolly roger meant it could've been any pirates (most of which wouldn't mess with her ship anyway).

What gave it away? The iron bow.

Yang glared at her first mate, "Y'know, Cami? You could fuckin' _tell us_ if we don't need to fight! Here I was getting ready for a brawl!" Yang gestured to her gauntlets, patting her legs for a shot of turbo for a few seconds before deciding against it. Being high around one of the few people that _wouldn't_ shoot her on sight _may_ have been a bad idea.

Ruby smiled as the ship turned toward them, a small spec on it waving in the distance. She waved back, not bothering to yell as the ship approached. It was rare that they crossed paths with the ship anywhere but a pub (that she usually had to wait outside of given her sister wouldn't let her drink yet).

When they did chance upon them (like now), she _loved_ when the captains would talk/discuss/fight/whatever the hell they did, leaving her free to talk with the first mate. The man always had such interesting stories to tell.

She didn't know it yet, but Jaune had _quite_ the story for her this time.


	10. ERROR 404! CLEVER TITLE NOT FOUND

Chapter Ten: The First Captain

"I thought you said you were a navigator."

Ren muttered, turning his eyes to Nora. The woman had —over the course of a few weeks— changed out of the simple nightgown and into a more fitting pink-striped shirt, a brown jacket cinched tight at her waist by a black belt, brown boots thudding into the wooden deck as she paced.

Nora frowned at Ren, "I _was_. They must've changed course or something, otherwise, they'd be _right_ here by now!" she gestured at the deck beneath her feet. She went back to pacing a moment later, scratching her scalp beneath the pink wrap she'd tied over her hair.

Ren moved from his place at the wheel, looking out at the horizon, "They changed course… any clue where he might've gone?" he looked down at the shorter woman, watching her scratching her head.

Suddenly she froze, "Oh… I guess there is _there_ … is _he_ even crazy enough for that?" she mumbled to herself, eyes turning south.

Ren put a hand on her shoulder, getting the shorter girl to turn to him, "Where?" he didn't need to specify what he meant. Nora understood.

"Death Isle… he always begged the captain to go there."

…

Jaune hated the day after the shattering.

It wasn't that he was tired after it —though that definitely played a role. Rather, it was a matter of trying to juggle the massive shift between his normal and less-than-normal forms. Switching between the two didn't require much effort —in all actuality it was a completely instinctive procedure.

The real issue came with the mental difference. Changing from a completely carnivorous predator with what was effectively a bottomless stomach into an omnivorous human was _incredibly_ strange, and was quite a drain on his psyche. Though, there was _one_ other issue this post-shattering:

Explaining it.

He'd just gotten out of Appi's room when he froze, raising an eyebrow down the hall. Granted, shortly after a shattering, it wasn't unheard of —or even rare —to see a naked man or woman walking around on the ship. He wouldn't be surprised if some didn't bother putting clothes on until the next night.

What confused him was the fact it was Penny —one of _three_ people on the ship that didn't transform during shatterings— who was walking around with nothing barring a bucket of water and her blade (just _looking_ at it sent shivers up his spine).

She noticed him a moment later, smiling before dashing to him. Now, _normally_ Jaune wouldn't catch her by the shoulders when she tried to hug him —he was used to it by now. Though, when both of them were completely naked? _That_ was where he'd draw the line.

She frowned for a moment before looking down, giggling before turning back to him, "Sorry, I normally have clothes on right now." she stepped back, gesturing to the door to his cabin, "All runes have been cleaned! Should be safe for you to enter now!" she took a step back.

Jaune went to move forward, sucking air through his teeth as he tried to walk through the door, the interior glowing bright orange. He looked down, sighing as he pointed at the bottom, "You missed one… again."

Penny didn't miss a beat, crouching down and rubbing away at the spot until the rune was gone. Jaune tried walking through again, smiling as his doorframe didn't try to kill him.

He turned back to Penny, "Mind explaining why you're naked? Pretty sure you're the only one who _doesn't_ have an excuse to be today." Jaune leaned against the door, eyes flicking to Penny's leg, over the familiar scar around her ankle.

His eyes were drawn back to her face as she spoke, "Oh! Neo and Neon wet the bed after seeing one of those fish creatures, so I gave them my underwear and nightgown to wear! I cleaned the bed while you were getting your treatment from Appi." she said cheerfully, not the least bit concerned about… well, _anything_.

Jaune nodded, "Fine. Plot a course for Mistral, Pyrrha should've gotten out somewhere around there." If there was one thing Jaune knew about Pyrrha, it's that _no one_ could keep her contained for long. Be it picking locks with her semblance or transforming into an absolute _monster_ on the shattering, she'd have gotten out somehow.

Penny saluted, dashing off to her cabin. Jaune, in the meantime, turned back to his, sticking his head in through the door. He smiled at the sight of Neo and Neon curled up in his chair… then that smile faded when he saw the faint bags beneath their eyes. They'd seen. They'd _definitely_ seen. How much, he wasn't sure, but they'd _seen_.

" _Calm down Jaune… you knew it would happen. They had to find out sooner or later… just get dressed and tell them the truth when they wake up_ ," he thought, walking across the room toward his bed.

He'd just reached it, and had already bent over to open the chest next to it when he heard the floorboards creak. He looked over his shoulder, freezing as he saw Neo standing up, white eyes gazing at him. They turned pink after a second, her eyes gazing down before her face went _bright_ red, turning her eyes back to his face.

Jaune looked away, his face glowing as he opened the chest, grabbing his boxers and slipping them on before bothering to turn and face Neo. "Hey… so… how was last night?" Jaune was shocked his voice was even _remotely_ steady, given the circumstances.

Neo didn't do anything for a moment, looking over him as her eyes turned back to white. She held up her hands, " _What happened last night?_ " that was all she signed, her hands somewhat shaky.

Jaune ran a hand over his hair, "Look it's… it's a long story, okay? I'll explain everything I can but…" he sighed, a faint chuckle slipping from his lips, "Honestly? _I'm_ not even sure what the full story is. A lot of things happened before I got on board."

He grabbed the rest of his clothes from the chest, Neo silently watching as he dressed, taking his hat from the desk before placing his pistols back in their proper places. With his outfit ready, he turned to Neo.

" _Hmm… buon giorno._ (Hmm… good morning.)" Neon purred from her place on the chair, padding up onto the desk and stretching like a cat without a second thought. It wasn't until her eyes trailed to Jaune and Neo that they widened, her dashing forward next to the smaller woman.

Jaune sighed… this was going to be tricky. He could speak to _both_ sure… but neither spoke a common ground language. Neon didn't speak Valish or sign language and Neo didn't speak Mistralean.

"Wait… moron…"

Jaune muttered. He apparently hadn't realized he could just _talk_ to Neon while signing everything to Neo. They'd both be able to understand it just fine. Granted… his hands were _probably_ going to be really cramped after this.

"I'm not naked this time!"

Jaune nearly jumped out of his skin at Penny's voice, the girl now clad in her standard clothes, charging Jaune before wrapping him in a hug. He sighed, giving her a small smile before hugging her back.

His eyes widened as his brain hatched an idea, "Hey, Penny," she looked up, raising an eyebrow at him, "I need you to explain everything about the cursed Arkos to Neon while I explain it to Neo, okay?" he gestured to said girl.

Penny's eyes lit up, grabbing Neon's hands before speaking rapid-fire Mistralean, nearly dragging the faunus out of the room. Thus, Jaune was left with a _much_ easier task of explaining everything in only _one_ language.

"Neo," she looked up at him, "sit down… this might take a while," Jaune said, muttering the last phrase. She complied, sitting at one end of the bed as Jaune moved the pillows, leaning back against the side of the ship.

"It all started with a woman named Salem…"

…

"SHIELDS!"

A pale woman yelled, holding one of her own to the sky. A volley of arrows rained from above, striking at the sails and crew alike. Some's shields held, while others were pierced by the deadly rain.

In the center stood a single woman, blonde hair falling to her shoulders as she drew her blade. For all her strength, she could do nothing but watch as her ship was surrounded, another preparing to ram hers.

The entire ship shuddered as the other sliced through the deck, enemy crew boarding her vessel. She charged down the stairs, planning to join her men in the death she knew they'd suffer.

"Salem!"

She froze, eyes wide as she saw the very man she'd been running from —the man she'd once called husband— start walking toward her. Ozma had never been one for a dishonorable ambush… he'd want to challenge her directly.

He drew his saber, banging it on his shield before lowering his stance, glaring at the shorter woman. There was no love in his eyes now —only contempt and anger. In Salem's, there was more -if a bit more rage than contempt.

The two charged, blades meeting shields as the battle raged around them. Each proved themselves a match for the other, going blow for blow as Salem backed further on her ship.

Their battle carried the two to the destroyed mast, Salem turning the tide and forcing Ozma back towards the ocean, striking with a ferocity never seen before —or after. "I _cared_ about you!" she struck his shield away, "I thought you were _different_!" she sliced into his leg, knocking him on one knee.

"I LO-"

The words stopped dead in her throat, shield and sword plummeting into the depths below. Just at the tip of her vision, past the edge of her nose, she saw an arrow. One that had gone right through her throat.

She fell headfirst into the waves.

…

" _What does that have to do with anything?_ "

Neo signed, rather confused. Jaune just smiled,

"You'll understand soon. Anyway…"

…

" **Awaken**."

Salem opened her eyes, face twisting in confusion. Was she not dead? Had that arrow not taken her life? How was she alive and… floating? Holding out her hands revealed that —sure enough— she was underwater, floating in place. What held her there, she wasn't sure.

At least, until she looked up.

Across from her was the face an angered stag, with horns stretching into darkness Salem couldn't see. Glowing red eyes stared into her being. A few strands of long, coarse hair clung to it's long, serpentine body, in defiance of the water around them.

"Am I dead?"

Salem was shocked she could speak at all, given she was completely submerged. Yet her voice came out clear as crystal, vibrating through the water like a ship against the seafloor.

"Not yet," the beast's voice was gravel, deep and sending ripples through the water around her. "I have sensed your anger, your pain, and so from the watery depths, I have pulled you. All for a deal."

"A deal?"

The beast nodded, "Yes. For your allegiance —in this life and the next— I offer you power mortals can only dream of. The strength of the sea, and the power of its people. You need only speak my name."

Salem had never heard of the beast before her. The watery devil that had saved her… but she knew it's name. Deep within her, something was calling out. Telling her to refuse. To banish the beast herself.

"I accept… Iku-Turso."

…

Jaune took a breath, "And _that's_ the story of the first captain. So, every time a captain dies, their successor performs the binding ritual with Iku-Turso. Any crew member that wants to becomes one of the sea-people after drinking the captain's blood, and… feel like I'm forgetting something…"

" _Why's the ship called the cursed Arkos?_ " Neo signed.

Jaune snapped (his fingers), " _Right_ , that. Well… hmm… I mean the ship gets renamed by the captain —kind of a tradition at this point —but I'm not really sure _why_ Pyrrha named it that…" he smiled at Neo, "Well, guess when you meet her you can ask."

" _Where is she?_ "

Jaune's smile fell as he leaned back slightly, "We raided a Mistralean port for supplies last month —just after the shattering… in all the chaos I lost track of Pyrrha and she…" Jaune sighed, "I thought she could handle herself but… still should've been there…"

To Neo, it was rather clear he'd stopped talking to her. The way his eyes stared right through her, at a sight only he could see. The incoherent mumbling, the guilty expression —all signs familiar to the mute.

She gently laid a hand on his shoulder, drawing him back into reality. Neither said a word when Neo wrapped her arms around his neck, the Arc leaning back against the wall as Neo splayed out over him.

He reciprocated the hug instantly, "Thanks, Neo. I… thanks." Jaune, for once, decided not to ramble or say more than he needed to. He just leaned back, arms wrapped around the shorter girl as he laid his chin on her shoulder.

Jaune wasn't sure how long it was when he gently pushed her back, Neo frowning at him, "Thanks for the concern, but… I'm okay now, thanks. Come on," he pat her back, "Get dressed and meet me on the main deck."

Jaune walked away, Neo staring after him until the door closed behind. She stared for a few seconds after, and for nowhere near the first time she wished she had a voice to call out to him. Wished she had some way to make him stay.

She sat up, face set in a resting pout as she pulled her clothes from the previous day on, tightening her belt a bit more than usual, grabbing her blade from nearby. " _I killed a man with this…_ " Neo looked over the sharp blade… she was rather disturbed by how easily the thought came to her. No grief, no regret… just a _fact_.

She sheathed it, nearly dashing out of the room toward the man deck. She didn't want to think about that… didn't want to let her mind dwell in that dark place for too long.

The second she got to the main deck, her eyes immediately found Jaune. Standing tall as ever, a sort of confidence she'd only seen in him behind the wheel taking any uncertainties away with the breeze. He was barking orders at the crew as she approached, only to stop the second he saw her.

He turned, giving her a small smile before looking ahead once more, "I don't think I got to tell you before the raid, but that look really suits you." he turned the wheel slightly, completely failing to notice Neo's cheeks turn pink.

Said girl walked behind him, leaning back against the railing and spreading her arms over it (well, as best she could anyway. If she'd really done that she'd be a few inches off the ground). She looked up, smiling at the clouds rolling by. At the slight breeze brushing over her face.

Jaune looked over his shoulder, "Nice day for sailing, huh?" he asked. He smiled when Neo nodded, her eyes closed as she leaned back further, only her toes touching the ground.

Jaune turned back ahead, gazing out over the open water. Penny had set them on a course for where they'd _guessed_ Pyrrha would be after she broke out. Hard to say exactly —not that it mattered when it would take them another few days to get there.

He stepped back, wiping at his forehead before slipping out of his coat, gently laying it on the deck. He put his hat on top of it, going back to the wheel as a cool breeze blew past him. " _Better._ " he thought, taking a step back from the wheel.

Jaune could almost sense the feline faunus's smirk from the doorway, "Not taking off anymore? Don't stop on _my_ account." Appi purred, strutting up the stairs as she always did. Her eyes flicked over him, and suddenly Jaune was reminded why he rarely took his coat off in the first place.

Though, as if reading his mind, Neo decided to walk over and wrap her arms around his left one, acting as a sort of barrier. "Thanks," Jaune whispered. Neo smiled back at him before turning her eyes to the taller tiger.

Said tiger's tail slowly slipped into the depths of her cloak, Appi smirking at Neo, "Well well _briinah_ , you've got claws." Neo didn't move as Appi's hand moved beneath her chin, forcing the shorter girl to look at her face.

Jaune's other hand came around and grabbed Appi's wrist, "Appi, that's enough." Jaune's voice was more stern than usual, a slight glare in his eyes that sent a shiver down Appi's spine. He always _was_ more irritable just after a shattering.

Appi obeyed, walking back down the stairs before disappearing into the belly of the ship. She knew when Jaune wasn't joking —she'd seen him hit his breaking point _far_ too many times to not know —and now was one of those times. She wasn't about to cross that line.

Neo, meanwhile, didn't move from Jaune's arm, still staring at the doorway. Jaune didn't say anything, eyes flicking down once in a while to see if Neo had moved —despite the fact he knew very well that she hadn't.

It was a few minutes later when Neo finally stepped back, rubbing her arm over her forehead before discarding her jacket, laying it next to Jaune's. The blond boy smiled, "Hot out here, huh?" he asked.

In response, Neo sat down and pulled off her boots, tossing them with her jacket. Jaune chuckled, "You get used to it eventually, don't worry. Hope for a breeze until then." Neo mimed giggling with her hand, leaning her head back against Jaune's leg.

The (acting) captain, meanwhile, turned his attention back to the sea, ensuring the ship didn't run across anything (it was rather pointless, given Duni would've shouted from the crow's nest if he saw something by now.

Neither said a word (probably since only one was capable of it) for a while, Neo leaning against Jaune leg as he kept sailing. Meanwhile, the sun rose higher in the sky, the temperature climbing all the while.

It'd probably been a good hour when Jaune finally stepped back, lightly pulling at his shirt to find it stuck to him. "Talk about a heatwave…" he wasn't terribly surprised —it _was_ nearing the height of Summer after all.

He reached down, barely thinking as he pulled his shirt off, laying it with his jacket. He was about to just continue sailing when he felt something tug at his pant leg. It took that (and seeing the slight blush on Neo's face) to remind him that he had company.

Surprisingly, he wasn't embarrassed. She _had_ seen him in his underwear to be fair. Seeing him shirtless was nothing. Rather than blush, he chuckled, "Glad we have auras to keep the sunburn off, huh?" he asked.

Neo slowly nodded, pulling at her shirt a few times to try and get some air in. It'd gotten to the point her clothes had begun to stick to her with sweat too. She stayed miserable that way for… roughly four minutes.

Jaune looked down, _definitely_ embarrassed this time as he saw Neo pull her shirt off, tossing it with her jacket. He heard the thud against the ground, assuming (rightly so) that Neo had flopped back on the ground.

He stared ahead for a few minutes before he, at last, turned around, looking down to see Neo laid out on the deck, eyes closed as she faced the sun. Despite his best efforts, his eyes couldn't help but trail down, slipping over her bright pink bra and down her slender belly, all the way down to her sock-covered feet.

"Jaune!" he was almost thankful for the distraction Penny gave, dashing up the steps two at a time. He would never understand how Penny, an Atlesian native of all things, was able to withstand the heat better than anyone he'd _ever_ met.

Jaune smiled, "Hey Penny. Did you explain everything to Neon?" he'd felt like she was taking her time —though to be fair Penny _did_ tend to add a bit more detail and flair to the story than Jaune did.

She saluted, "Everything I know about it! She's in my cabin right now —apparently she's not used to the heat like we are." she said to the man and woman who'd both already forgone their coats _and_ shirts.

Jaune nodded, "Great… how'd she take it?" he'd been more worried about Neo if he was honest. Most of the faunus he'd seen had already been around some rather unbelievable things —things even someone like _him_ found hard to believe. He figured if Neo was fine, Neon was probably —

"I had to comfort her for about ten minutes."

… okay, _not_ that.

"That bad?"

Penny shook her head, "No. When I explained the fifth captain's story she started crying —kinda like Appi did the first time Pyrrha told us." telling that part of the story was always the hardest for her.

Jaune let out a sigh of relief, "Okay, that makes more sense. I didn't go into that much detail with Neo-"

Penny took a breath.

"No, I'm not letting you tell the rest right now."

She let it go.

Penny was somewhat deflated as she stepped over Neo, looking out over the back of the ship before turning around. She smiled at the other two before pulling off her shirt and shoes, tossing them with the others.

Jaune turned, raising an eyebrow at her, "Penny, I know it's not too hot for you out here. Put your shirt back on, you don't have an aura to protect you from sunburn like me and Neo." he explained, turning his attention back to the sea as Penny walked to her discarded clothes.

She pulled on the shirt… and then pulled off her pants, walking to the back and pulling her legs beneath her. Jaune raised an eyebrow at her. Penny smiled, "What? My shirt can cover all of me now —watch." she proceeded to pull her legs up, knees the only thing sticking out from within.

Jaune sighed, "Alright, you got me on that one." he should've known she'd find a way to get around it. Every order he'd ever given her, she found _some_ way to get around it. Most of the time it was by making that face he couldn't resist.

Penny giggled, "Hey, Jaune?" he turned. Penny proceeded to press her knees up through her collar, giving a sultry smirk, " _Zu'u los Appi, laan wah bau zey avok bord uv osos vorey likaan truk?_ "

Jaune laughed, "Not a bad Appi… but her chest isn't _that_ big." he gestured to her knees. Penny frowned, trying to pull them closer… of course, since they were _literally_ against her chest, that was rather difficult.

It was at that point Neo opened her eyes, looking between the two in confusion. Jaune looked down, eyes flicking between the two, "Hey, Penny. Neo didn't see, do it again." Penny obeyed, making the same remark.

Neo, seeing an opportunity, pulled her leg up slightly, focusing her semblance as light gathered around her, a near-perfect copy of Appi laying on the ground, leg stretched up and smirking at Jaune. She even bit up toward him, a wide smirk on her face.

Penny dashed over Neo, arms on either side of her disguise's head, " _Wow_! You have a semblance!?" she moved up so she was crouching over Appi-Neo's chest, both hands pressing onto the disguise's face.

Jaune scratched his chin, "Oh yeah… never did explain that part to you, did we?" Penny, of course, shook her head, hands trailing down Appi-Neo's neck and shoulders, lightly squeezing them to find they felt —sure enough —real.

The second she stuck a finger in either side of her mouth, she understood _why_ —given the disguise shattered and Appi-Neo was back to regular Neo. Penny didn't pull her hands back though, still pressing Neo's face into a smile before a frown, Neo's hands eventually reaching up to stop her.

Jaune smiled, "Sorry Penny —points for the language, but Neo wins by a _landslide_." Neo mimed giggling again, a small smirk on her face as she looked at Penny.

Of course, Penny didn't seem to care that much. She'd found something _much_ cooler than acting like Appi by putting her legs up her shirt. "Hey, can you make changes to your forms?" she asked.

Neo raised an eyebrow but slowly nodded regardless. That proved to be a mistake a moment later, given Penny started asking a _torrent_ of questions, speaking at speeds Neo wasn't even sure was _possible_. She wouldn't be surprised if they'd been going faster from all the wind she produced just by _talking_.

Jaune leaned over, "Neo, mind turning into Appi again?" Neo did so before standing up. It wasn't really _hard_ when she was just standing still. She'd been able to do _far_ more even when she was tied up and had barely eaten anything.

Penny sat back on her rear, doing the same thing with her knees as she did a minute ago. She looked at Jaune, "Hey, Jaune says Appi isn't this big. Can you make it so she is?" she gestured to her knees in her shirt.

Appi-Neo nodded, focusing as her torso glowed white, reforming a moment later to have a bust the size Penny expected. Penny and Jaune both clapped, Jaune's face slightly red as Appi-Neo walked up to them. She'd even gotten the cat-like _strut_ right.

Penny stood, casually walking over and laying her hands over Appi-Neo's chest, "Hmm? Why are they so-" the disguise vanished, Neo falling slightly as Penny's hands fell to her shoulders. "Hard… _oooh_ because your chest isn't big it's made of _light_! Got it!" Penny gave a thumbs up.

Then her eyes widened, "Oh! Turn into me! Turn into me!" Penny's eyes filled with more excitement and stars than Jaune had seen in _quite_ a while —at _least_ since they raided that one ship with the prisoner who could control animals with their mind.

Neo complied, forming an exact copy of Penny (with all her clothes on anyway). Penny slowly raised a hand, Penny-Neo following suite. Jaune just watched as the two mimicked each other as if looking in a mirror. Until, of course, Penny moved forward and wrapped Penny-Neo in a hug.

She stepped back after a second, "Hmm… can you spin around?" Neo complied, doing a slight twirl before turning back, finding Penny staring at herself (the real her, not the Neo her), as if in deep thought.

"How well did you copy me…" Penny raised her shirt, exposing her belly. Penny-Neo did the same, revealing an identical one. The real Penny stepped forward, lightly poking Penny-Neo's belly (which she squirmed away at) before doing the same to her own.

Penny let her shirt fall, Penny-Neo doing the same. "Wow… you _are_ an exact copy! Which _means_ …" Penny's smirk turned sinister as she dashed forward, running her fingers up Penny-Neo's sides.

The effect was instant, the disguise breaking as Neo fell, face red and mouth open in silent laughter as Penny's hands trailed over her torso, Neo's hands and feet kicking the deck as Penny laid on her back.

"CAP'N! IT'S THE SUNRISE HEART!"

Jaune turned, eyes widening as he saw the ship in the distance. He didn't need a spyglass to know it was closing fast. He turned, pulling Penny off Neo. Penny (who'd heard the announcement but had kept tickling Neo regardless) smiled up at him, not saying a word as she grabbed her clothes, pulling them on as fast as she could.

Jaune, meanwhile, just pulled on his shirt, smiling as he saw the ship approaching. "Neo?" he turned, seeing the girl slowly recovering from Penny's attack, "We're about to have company. I'd get dressed if I were you."

Neo was suddenly on full alert, dashing to her clothes and boots, scrambling to pull everything on. When she was dressed, she jumped to her feet, hand on her blade. Jaune quickly laid it over hers, "Don't worry, not _that_ kind of company. These are friends of ours."

Jaune flipped on his hat as he saw the ship approaching, Neo and Penny standing beside him as the somewhat smaller ship approached them. Two things gave it away. One: The ship was flying the unmistakable flag (that being a white X with a burning yellow heart on one side and a red rose on the other).

The other? The dark-haired girl waving at him.

Jaune waved right back, some of his crew joining as they walked to the sides, the navigator of the other ship pulling the two closer. Jaune gave the order to lower the sails, signaling Yang to start barking orders at her crew.

The Sunrise Heart circled behind the Cursed Arkos, slowing to a crawl next to it as both crews tossed ladders and ropes across, making pseudo bridges between the two. Some (like a certain silver-eyed girl) decided against waiting, jumping from the higher decks onto the other deck.

Jaune turned, pulling his right foot back on reflex as a blur of red hit him, knocking him back at _least_ a foot. "Hi, Jaune!" Ruby said, eyes sparkling from within her red hood. Her head leaned against his chest, bright eyes gazing into his.

He chuckled, running a hand over her hair, "Hey, Ruby. Where's-" he froze as he saw the familiar head of blonde hair making its way toward him. The girl's blades were already active, lilac eyes gazing at him and Ruby.

Jaune gulped, "Nevermind."

Yang walked across the ropes with no hesitation, pulling her blades back as a bright smile lit her face. The second she was on the Cursed Arkos, her eyes trailed over the crew. Though, when they didn't find what she was looking for, they immediately went back to Jaune.

"The fuck's Pyrrha?"

Jaune frowned, "Captured." he didn't need to say more. The effect was instant. Ruby laying a hand over her mouth, eyes widening at the news. Yang was —ironically —far less worried than her sister about the whole thing.

She only smirked, "When you get her back, come find us. She is _never_ living this one down." it shouldn't have been a surprise that Yang wasn't worried. She'd seen how capable Pyrrha was, how she was _literally_ the only woman in the world that could go toe-to-toe with her in a fight and actually _win_.

Jaune nodded, "Yeah, she probably escaped during the shattering. We're heading for Mistral-"

"Wait, Mistral?" Ruby interrupted.

Jaune slowly nodded, Ruby's face springing into a smile. "Perfect!" she turned to her sister, "Yang, we have our solution." she gestured back to the ship. Though, no one on the Cursed Arkos knew _why_.

Yang's eyes flashed red for a moment, "Ruby if you think I'm letting you go back to Mistral when you _just_ killed a man there…" she trailed off, taking a few breaths to try and calm her rage.

Ruby stood firm, "We'll meet you in East Menagerie. We're _finding_ her family." she wrapped her arms tighter around Jaune, glaring at her sister. Jaune, meanwhile, just stared down at Ruby, looking between the sisters and wondering just what the hell he'd been dragged into.

Yang marched up to them, "Ruby, you are _not_ going to Mistral. I…" Yang sighed, pulling her sister's hood over her face as she tried to do her infamous 'puppy dog eyes'. "I'll send Velvet —let _Jaune_ find her family, this is _his_ territory!"

Speaking of, Jaune raised his hands, "Hold on a second — _what_ are you two talking about?" he'd just been listening in during their little spat, all the while having no more clue what was going on than Neon (who both didn't speak Valish and was assumingly somewhere in the belly of the ship).

Ruby frowned at him, "We fished a rabbit faunus slave girl up from the water and May told us that the rabbit girl was a slave named Velvet that managed to escape by riding a dolphin —which sounds ridiculous but apparently it's true —anyway she managed to get away and somehow find us and we think her family is heading for Mistral and now Yang's being a big meanie and not letting me go help her!"

Ruby took a few breaths, pouting up at Jaune, eyes pleading for help (in a way that was oddly similar to the way Penny did it). Jaune frowned back at her before turning to Yang, eyes hardening, "I'll find them, don't worry."

Yang nearly growled at him, "That _isn't_ the _problem_! I don't _care_ if you take the faunus —by all means! But I _do_ care that —you aren't taking Ruby!" Yang shouted, eyes flashing red as she pointed at Jaune.

Jaune looked at Ruby, his sympathy for the girl growing at her expression, "Ruby… look, I'm not your captain. You coming with us isn't my call to make —it's hers." he gestured to Yang, said woman glad the Arc hadn't been _completely_ won over by her sister's adorableness.

Ruby frowned, stepping back… then she did something even Yang didn't expect.

"Then I guess you'll have to be my captain for a little while."


End file.
